Decabromodiphenyl ether, determination

Decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) is a major industrial product from the polybrominated diphenyl ethers used as flame retardants derivatives of this product have been detected in the environment. After exposure to the land surface, these contaminants adsorb on soil materials and may reach the atmosphere as particulate matter these particulates are subsequently subject to photolytic reactions. In this context, Ahn et al. (2006) studied photolysis of BDE-209 adsorbed on clay minerals, metal oxides, and sediments, under sunhght and UV dark irradiation. Dark and light control treatments during UV and sunlight irradiation showed no disappearance of BDE-209 during the experiments. Data on half-lives and rate constants of BDE-209 adsorbed on subsurface minerals and sediments, as determined by Ahn et al. (2006) and extracted from the literature, are shown in Table 16.6. 

Yamamoto H. Okumura T. Nishkawa Y. et al. 1997. Determination of decabromodiphenyl ether in water and sediment samples by gas chromatograpy with electron capture detection. J AOAC Int 80(1) 102-106. 

Zitko V. 1999. Qualitative determination of 10,10 -oxybisphenoxarsine and decabromodiphenyl ether in plastics. Chemosphere 38(3) 629-632. 

Hamm, S., Strikkeling, M., Ranken, P. F., and Rothenbacher, K., Determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and PBDD/Fs during the recycling of high impact polystyrene containing decabromodiphenyl ether and antimony oxide, Chemosphere, 44, 1353-1360, 2001. 

The analysis of BDEs has been reviewed by Stapleton [10] Kierkegaard, Sellstrom, and McLachlan [93] Wang and Li [90] and Covaci et al. [88]. Because BDEs have similar physical and chemical properties to polychlorinated biphenyl congeners (and, in fact, the same naming conventions are used for BDEs as PCBs), similar methods have also been used for their analysis. With the exception of the higher brominated BDEs (i.e., certain octa-, nona-, and decaBDEs), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC—MS) and related techniques are the methods of choice for determination of BDEs from complex samples [6,94]. Decabromodiphenyl ether, BDE-209, is thermally unstable and is observed to debrominate during analysis by GC consequently, LC methods of analysis are preferred. LC methods are also preferred for BDE metabolites and transformation products, which are often sufficiently polar to require derivitization for analysis by GC derivitization is not required for LC analysis. 

Fig. 6.6. Calibration curve for the quantitative determination of decabromodiphenyl ether (BrioDPO). After De Koster and Boon [208]. Reproduced by permission of Consumentenbond, The Hague.

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