Brominated Dioxins: Little-Known New Health Hazards - A Review

Abstract

This article reviews the present state of the science concerning the polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PBDDs) and dibenzofurans (PBDFs). Everywhere in the world people are exposed to anthropogenic origin chemicals. Some of them are longlived organic compounds, which persist over the years in the environment. Persistent organic pollutants, such as organohalogen compounds, accumulate in environmental and biological compartments and have adverse effects on the health of humans and animals. Little is known about the brominated and mixed chloro/bromo dioxin and furans. Existing literature suggests that brominated dioxins and furans have similar toxicity profiles to their chlorinated analogues. The exposure data are extremely limited, showing a major data gap in estimating the potential environmental and health risk of these chemicals. The rapid increase in the use of brominated flame retardants (the main source of these pollutants) has raised the level of concern over environmental and health damage from brominated dioxins and furans. It is likely that human as well as wildlife exposure to these contaminants will increase with their greater use. The findings reported here present strong evidence of the PBDDs and PBDFs as an emerging new class of contaminants.

Polibromlu Dibenzo-p-Dioksinler/Furanlar (PBDD/F'lar) ve Hegzabromosiklododekanlar (HBCDD’lar): Kimyasal Oluşum, İzleme, Etki ve Ölçüm

“…PBDD/F'ler, yaygın olarak kullanılan BFR'lerin ikincil çevre kirleticileri olarak, PCDD/F'lere benzer fizikokimyasal ve toksik özellikler göstermektedirler [28]. Mevcut literatür, PBDD/F'lerin klorlu analoglarına benzer oluşum profillerine sahip olduğunu, ancak verilerin son derece sınırlı olmasıyla birlikte bu kimyasalların potansiyel riskinin tahminini engelleyen büyük bir bilgi boşluğu olduğunu göstermektedir [29][30]. PBDD/F'ler, bir dieter (dioksin) veya furan köprüsü ile birbirine bağlanan iki bromlu benzen halkasına sahip diaromatik moleküllerdir [34].…”

Update of the risk assessment of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs) in food

“…Thermal degradation of HBCDDs results in the formation of high‐molecular weight aromatic and polyaromatic brominated decomposition compounds (Dirtu et al., 2014). In the same way as polychlorinated dioxins and furans can be produced when organochlorine compounds are combusted, polybrominated dioxins and furans may be generated in low amounts when organobromine‐containing products are combusted (D'Silva et al., 2004; Jogsten et al., 2010; Piskorska‐Plisczynska and Maszewski, 2014; IPEN, 2019). Even a very low level of these brominated dioxins could be significant due to the high toxicity.…”

Evaluation of multiple alternative instrument platforms for targeted and non‐targeted dioxin and furan analysis

“…Specifically, increased exposure to dioxins and other halogenated pollutants that are not routinely monitored for with these common analytical methods may play a potential role in this disease increase. [11][12][13][14][15] While the common targeted methods used for dioxin analysis yield robust results, they are limited in scope and applicability to screening samples for a more complete range of compounds which may yield a better estimation of overall toxicity. Dioxin analysis is traditionally performed using targeted methods that utilize gas chromatography coupled to a high-resolution mass spectrometer (HRMS) operating at a minimum mass resolution of 10 000, or greater.…”