Are atmospheric PBDE levels declining in central Europe? Examination of the seasonal and semi-long-term variations, gas–particle partitioning and implications for long-range atmospheric transport

Abstract

Abstract. This study presents multi-year monitoring data on atmospheric polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in central Europe. Air was sampled on a weekly basis at a background site in the central Czech Republic from 2011 to 2014 (N = 114). Σ8PBDEs (without BDE209) total (gas and particulate) concentrations ranged from 0.084 to 6.08 pg m−3, while BDE209 was at 0.05–5.01 pg m−3. BDE47, BDE99 and BDE183 were the major contributors to Σ8PBDEs.Overall, the atmospheric concentrations of individual PBDEs were controlled by deposition processes, meteorological parameters and long-range atmospheric transport. Regarding gas–particle partitioning, with the exception of BDE28 (gaseous) and BDE209 (particulate), all congeners were consistently detected in both phases. Clear seasonal variations with significantly higher measured particulate fraction (θmeasured) in winter compared to summer was found for all PBDEs except BDE209. For example, while the average θmeasured of BDE47 was 0.53±0.19 in winter, this was only 0.01±0.02 in summer. Similarly, for BDE99, θmeasured was 0.89±0.13 in winter, while it was only 0.12±0.08 in summer. The observed gas–particle partitioning coefficient (Kp, in m3 µg−1) was compared with three model predictions, assuming equilibrium or a steady state. None of the models could provide a satisfactory prediction of the partitioning, suggesting the need for a universally applicable model.Statistically significant decreases of the atmospheric concentrations during 2011–2014 were found for BDE99, 100, 153 and 209. Estimated apparent atmospheric halving times for these congeners ranged from 2.8 (BDE209) to 4.8 (BDE153) years. The results suggest that photolytic debromination to lower brominated congeners may significantly influence PBDE concentration levels and patterns in the atmosphere.

Multi-year atmospheric concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) at a background site in central Europe

“…passed through the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, North Sea or Baltic Sea). The highest PFASs concentrations mainly observed from different directions with the highest residence time in continental areas suggests a homogeneous continental emission source of PFASs, as previously found for other POPs (Degrendele et al, 2018). It is consistent with the fact that PFASs are used in the industry of flame retardants and can be emitted during the incineration of products or wastes containing PFASs (Paul et al, 2009;Prevedouros et al, 2006).…”

“…This site is part of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) network (Holoubek et al, 2007), besides others. This sampling site, located in an agricultural region in central Czech Republic with limited anthropogenic sources, as well as the sampling techniques have been already described in different studies investigating other POPs and SVOCs in air (Degrendele et al, 2020(Degrendele et al, , 2018(Degrendele et al, , 2016Shahpoury et al, 2015). A high-volume air sampler (Digitel DH77 with PM 10 pre-separator) was used to collect air samples on a biweekly basis resulting in an average sampled volume of 5282 m 3 corresponding to a flow rate of about 31.4 m 3 h −1 for 7 days sampling duration.…”

“…The short temporal variations of SVOCs atmospheric concentrations can be influenced by the meteorological conditions along transport (e.g. temperature, precipitation) but also by the advection of air masses or the efficiency of removal processes (degradation and deposition) (Degrendele et al, 2020(Degrendele et al, , 2018.…”

“…This type of data are crucial to evaluate the effectiveness of international regulations. Following what has been previously applied for other POPs and SVOCs (Degrendele et al, 2020(Degrendele et al, , 2018, the harmonic regression presented in Equation (1) was used (Venier et al, 2012).…”

NPAHs and OPAHs in the atmosphere of two central European cities: Seasonality, urban-to-background gradients, cancer risks and gas-to-particle partitioning

“…the National Atmospheric Observatory Košetice (NAOK), reflects the regional background air, i.e. atmospheric pollution of central Europe; it is part of the European Monitoring Environmental Programme besides other atmospheric networks ( Degrendele et al, 2018 ), located in the Czech Republic 130 km North-West of Brno. A major highway with a traffic volume of 40,000 cars per day is located about 7 km North-East from this R site ( Holubová Šmejkalová et al, 2020 ).…”