As a new kind of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are extensively used as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in various types of electronic products. Due to their wild-spread use and toxicities, PBDEs have posed a great threat to both human health and ecosystems. They have become one of the main pollutants in soil, especially in e-waste recycling sites. In the present study, a total of 54 soil samples were collected from Ziya e-waste recycling area, which is situated in the biggest circular economy park of China (i.e., Ziya Circular Economy Area). 14 PBDE congeners (i.e., BDE 17, 28, 47, 66, 71, 85, 99, 100, 138, 153, 154, 183, 190, 209) were analyzed in order to illustrate the occurrence and distribution pattern of PBDEs in soil. The results showed that the concentrations of ∑<sub>13</sub>PBDEs (PBDEs excluding BDE 209) and BDE 209 ranged 2.98-40.84 ng/g dry weight (dw) (average 13.34) and 2.88-2666.14 ng/g dw (average 89.56), respectively. The ∑<sub>14</sub>PBDEs concentration in central area was almost 10 folds higher than the level in surrounding area. PBDEs levels in the top soil layers (10 cm and 30 cm) were significant higher than the levels in deeper soil layer (50 cm). The PBDEs congener profiles were dominated by BDE 209 (54.27%), followed by BDE 138 (14.49%), BDE 28 (9.00%), BDE 153 (4.52%),BDE 71 (4.47%), and BDE 47 (3.82%) in this region. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the commercial penta-BDEs and deca-BDEs could be considered as the main sources of PBDEs pollution. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed soil moisture content (SMC) and soil organic matter (SOM) are the most important factors, and had positive correlations with the concentrations of BDE 99, BDE 209, BDE 100, BDE 190 and BDE 154. The results provide valuable information on the PBDEs levels and distributions in e-waste recycling areas.

Occurrence and concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soils from an e-waste recycling area in north China

254th National Meeting (2017)

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