Levels and Distribution of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Water, Surface Sediments, and Bivalves from the San Francisco Estuary

Abstract

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were found in water, surface sediments, and bivalve samples that were collected from the San Francisco Estuary in 2002. sigmaPBDE concentrations in water samples ranged from 3 to 513 pg/ L, with the highest concentrations found in the Lower South Bay (range 103-513 pg/L) region, which receives approximately 26% of the Estuary's wastewater treatment plant effluents. The sigmaPBDEs in sediments ranged from below detection limits to 212 ng/g dry wt, with the highest concentration found at a South Bay station (212 ng/g dry wt), which was up to 3 orders of magnitude higher than other stations. The sigmaPBDE concentrations ranged from 9 to 64 ng/g dry wt in oysters (Crassostrea gigas), from 13 to 47 ng/g dry wt in mussels (Mytilus californianus), and from 85 to 106 ng/g dry wt in clams (Corbicula fluminea). Only three PBDE congeners were detected in bivalves, BDE-47, BDE-99, and BOE-100; these are the most bioaccumulative congeners from the commercial Penta-BDE mixture.

Maternal transfer of xenobiotics and effects on larval striped bass in the San Francisco Estuary

“…These compounds have been shown to act as thyroid hormone mimics, induce P450-1A1 and P450-2B2 enzyme systems, have neurotoxic effects, and cause learning and behavioral deficits that remain throughout life in rodents (35). Results presented here support studies indicating PBDE contamination of the San Francisco Estuary (38) and bioaccumulation of these compounds in fish (35). The consequences of PBDE contamination for wildlife and humans are largely unknown (8,10) and need to be addressed and mitigated.…”

Distribution of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and decabromodiphenylethane in surface sediments from the Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Canada Basin

“…Most stations in the present study had concentrations higher than 5 pg/g for P PBDEs and 10 pg/g for BDE-209 and, in comparison, these concentrations were relatively lower than those in other Arctic marine sediments. Also, by comparison with areas in lower latitudes, P PBDEs in the present study were lower than those in the South China Sea Mai et al, 2005;Zhang et al, 2009); Yangtze River Delta (Chen et al, 2006); Bo Sea, China ; Tokyo Bay, Japan (Minh et al, 2007); San Francisco Bay (Oros et al, 2005); and Singapore (Wurl and Obbard, 2005). Concentrations of BDE-209 were lower than those in other locations also (Allchin et al, 1999;Chen et al, 2006;Eljarrat et al, 2005;Mai et al, 2005;Minh et al, 2007;Moon et al, 2007;Toms et al, 2008;Wang et al, 2009;Zhang et al, 2009).…”

The factors controlling the partitioning of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polychlorinated biphenyls in the water-column of the Pearl River Estuary in South China

“…This value was higher than the RPBDEs for the San Francisco Estuary (Oros et al, 2004) and Lake Michigan (Streets et al, 2006), but lower than Izmir bay (Cetin and odabasi, 2006) and similar to Hong Kong seawater (Wurl and lam, 2005) …”