Levels and distribution of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) in environmental samples near manufacturing facilities in Laizhou Bay area, East China

Abstract

A total of 55 samples including soil, sediment, plants (cypress, reed and seepweed) and aquatic species were collected at locations around hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) manufacturing facilities in Laizhou Bay area, East China. HBCD was determined at concentrations ranging between 0.88 and 6901 ng g À1 dry weight (dw), 2.93-1029 ng g À1 dw, 8.88-160 241 ng g À1 dw, and 7.09-815 ng g À1 lipid weight (lw), respectively. Significant negative correlations (r 2 ¼ 0.54, p ¼ 0.006) were observed between HBCD concentrations in soils and the distance from the manufacturing facility, and the concentrations became constant when the distance was >4 km. The calculation results on the bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) suggested that HBCD may be accumulated in plants. Tissue-specific bioaccumulation of HBCD diastereoisomers was found in aquatic species. For example, in crabs the highest concentrations of HBCD (815 ng g À1 lw for female and 446 ng g À1 lw for male) were observed in the gill. Besides the gill, a-HBCD was more preferentially accumulated in the spermary and ovary, while b-and g-HBCD were more accumulated in the muscle. A similar distribution was also observed in roe and muscle of goby fish.

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs) in surface soils from coastal cities in North China: Correlation between diastereoisomer profiles and industrial activities

“…In China, 18000 tons of HBCDD were produced in 2011, more than half of the global production, in which 5500e6000 tons was exported, 9000 tons was applied in EPS and 3000 tons was applied in XPS (POPRC, 2012). Attention has been paid to HBCDD contamination in China, and investigations have been conducted near point-source sites or in the most industrialized cities where concentrations in environmental media have been shown to be relatively high (Yu et al, 2008a;Gao et al, 2011;Li et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2013;Zhu et al, 2014). A larger scale investigation into HBCDD concentrations and spatial distribution is necessary in order to better understand the contamination status, identify sources, and ultimately reduce associated impacts.…”

Emerging Persistent Organic Pollutants in Chinese Bohai Sea and Its Coastal Regions

“…The concentration of HBCD in the sediment turned out to be a very high value, which has reached 634 ng/g. HBCDs levels in riverine sediments in Laizhou Bay area, which is the biggest brominated chemical industry base in China, were reported by Li et al [33]. The highest concentrations in sediment samples reached 1029 ng/g dw, which was obviously influenced by the production activities in local area.…”

Developmental toxicity of three hexabromocyclododecane diastereoisomers in embryos of the marine medaka Oryzias melastigma

“…In addition, in vitro work reveals that α-HBCD is more resistant to metabolic degradation by liver enzymes of both rats and adult trout than β-and γ-HBCD [31].Therefore, the stereoisomer-selective biotransformation of HBCDs in adult fish can result in totally different isomer composition in fish body from that of tHBCD. Indeed, α-HBCD in general accounts for ~80-90% of total HBCDs in both freshwater and marine fish tissues collected from the field, whereas β-and γ-HBCD are the minor fractions [6,13]. HBCDs are maternally transferred to fish eggs [32], so the compositions of the three diastereoisomers in fish eggs are almost identical to those in other fish tissues, e.g., in fish fillet [6,13].…”

“…In addition, β-and γ-HBCD can be biotransformed to α-HBCD in adult fish [10][11][12]. Indeed, α-HBCD is always the predominant HBCD diastereoisomer detected in both freshwater and marine fish sampled from the field, accounting for ~80-90% of total HBCDs [1,3,13,14].…”