Persistent organic pollutants brominated flame retardants

No matter the source, flame retardants, especially the poly brominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE s), are coming under scrutiny because they are persistent organic pollutants (POPs). They are appearing in human samples, most notably serum, adipose fat tissue and breast milk. PBDE s are also under investigation as potential endocrine mimickers or endocrine disrupters. As a result, PBDE s are the most highly regulated flame retardants. Their environmental fate will continue to be a topic of research for years to come. 

One of the main concerns with plastic resin pellets is that they carry persistent organic pollutants (POPs). POPs are human-made chemicals used in a variety of anthropogenic activities, including industry, agriculture and daily life. POPs include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), different sorts of organochloiine pesticides (e.g. DDTs and HCHs) and brominated flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs). Because of their very slow rate of degradation, POPs are persistent in the environment. POPs are... 

Fish with high fat contents is an important source of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the human diet, in particular for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (EFSA, 2005). On the other side, a wide range of environmental contaminants have been reported to be accumulated in fish that can pose a potential human health hazard (Leonard, 2011). Major contaminations include the different OCPs, PAHs or the widely distributed persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the flame retardants compound class of the polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs). Also farmed fish can significantly contribute to dietary exposure to various contaminants due to the use of land sourced fish feed. A multi method for efficient control of fish and fish feed for various groups of contaminants from PCBs, OCPs, BFRs (brominated flame retardants) and PAHs is outlined in the following analytical procedure published by Kamila Kalachova et al. (Kalachova et al., 2013). 

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) analysis covering dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the brominated flame retardants (BFRs), also featuring Fast GC for increased sample throughput... 

Dallaire R, Dewailly E, Pereg D et al (2(K)9) Thyroid function and plasma concentrations of polyhalogenated compounds in Inuit adults. Environ Health Perspect 117 1380-1386 Damerud PO, Aune M, Larsson L et al (2011) Levels of brominated flame retardants and other persistent organic pollutants in breast milk samples from Limpopo province. South Africa. Sci Total Environ 409 4048 053... 

Tue NM, Takahashi S, Suzuki G et al (2013) Contamination of indoor dust and air by polychlorinated biphenyls and brominated flame retardants and relevance of non-dietary exposure in Vietnamese informal e-waste recycling sites. Environ Int 51 160-167 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (2013) Recommendation by the persistent organic pollutants review committee to list hexabromocyclododecane in annex A to the Stockholm convention and draft text of the proposed amendment. Conference of the parties to the Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants sixth meeting, Geneva, Switzerland (28 April-10 May 2013)... 

The polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are an important class of semi-volatile, persistent organic pollutants. These species are of anthropogenic origin, and are used as flame retardants in electronics, fabrics, and furniture. Theoretically, there are 209 different PBDE congeners that result from the presence of 1-10 bromine atoms on the basic diphenyl ether structure ... 

---