First determination of high levels of organophosphorus flame retardants and plasticizers in dolphins from Southern European waters

Abstract

This study evaluates for the first time organophosphorus flame retardant (OPFR) occurrence in the Alboran Sea delphinids (Spain). OPFRs were detected in all the individuals with concentration levels up to 24.7 µg/g lw. Twelve out of sixteen tested analytes were detected, being TBOEP which presented the highest detection frequency, and IDPP which presented the highest levels of concentration. OPFR distribution in different tissues (blubber, brain, kidney, muscle and liver) was evaluated. The pattern distribution showed the highest contribution for blubber (mean value of 68%) and the lowest contribution for liver (mean value of 2%). Seven OPFRs were detected in brain samples showing their capacity to surpass the blood-brain barrier and reach the brain. Moreover, high affinity for the brain tissue was observed. This is extremely important due to the neurotoxic effects of several compounds such as TCEP and TNBP. OPFR levels were compared with previously published PBDE concentrations, and no significant differences were observed. Taking into account the lower use and lower bioaccumulation and biomagnification capacities of OPFRs, this could indicate an additional OPFR source of pollution in addition to their use as FRs.

Occurrence of Halogenated and Organophosphate Flame Retardants in Sediments and Eels (Anguilla anguilla) From Bizerte Lagoon, Tunisia

“…Thus, the higher ratio observed in eel samples could be a result of an additional OPFR source of exposure. Recently, two other studies in marine environment showed the same behavior, with OPFR levels higher than those of PBDEs in dolphin tissue samples from the Mediterranean (Sala et al, 2019) and Indian Ocean (Aznar-Alemany et al, 2019). One hypothesis would be related to the fact that OPFRs are also used as plasticizers, antifoaming agents and performance additives in consumer products.…”

“…Moreover, OPFRs are resistant to degradation and can stay persistently in the environment (Wei et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2016). The occurrence of OPFRs was observed in various environmental compartments like air (Van der Veen and de Boer, 2012), sediment (Cao et al, 2012;Cristale and Lacorte, 2013;Wu et al, 2016) and biota (Giulivo et al, 2016;Greaves et al, 2016;Sala et al, 2019).…”

The use of an in vitro approach to assess marine invertebrate carboxylesterase responses to chemicals of environmental concern

“…Organophosphorus-based flame retardants such as Tris(1chloropropan-2-yl) phosphate (TCP) and triphenyl phosphate (TPP) have been introduced in the market to replace BFRs, as they have been reported to be less toxic (van der Veen and de Boer, 2012). However, there is recent evidence of their occurrence in high trophic level marine fauna, being able to cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in the brain (Sala et al, 2019). Another type of commonly-used J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f plasticizers are phthalates, namely dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), di-isobutyl phthalate (DiBP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), benzylbutyl phthalate (BzBP) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP).…”

Interaction of Environmental Pollutants with Microplastics: A Critical Review of Sorption Factors, Bioaccumulation and Ecotoxicological Effects

“…The authors concluded that marine plastic litter could be an important source of bioaccumulation and biomagnification of OPFRs substances into marine mammals which could explain the similar concentration levels in tissues to halogenated flame retardants despite the large differences in the production volume of these families of compounds (i.e., production volume of OPFRs used as flame-retardant is roughly the half of the halogenated flame retardants production volume). In addition, the authors pointed to the lower capacity of OPFRs to bioaccumulate and biomagnify, which could indicate other pollution sources complementary to their use as flame retardants [112]. Chen et al investigated the Bisphenol-A (BPA) bioaccumulation enhancement in zebrafish due to the presence of NPs.…”