Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers Contamination in Marine Organisms of Yantai Coast, Northern Yellow Sea of China

Abstract

To evaluate the contamination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in marine organisms of the northern Yellow Sea of China, mollusks, wild shrimps and crabs were collected from the Yantai coast and ten PBDE congeners levels in the samples were analyzed and compared. The results indicate all the samples have been contaminated by PBDEs and PBDEs concentrations varied in individual species and in sampling sites. The concentration range of P PBDEs in the samples was 0.23-10.56 ng/g d.w. below the national edible criteria 40 ng/g d.w.. Congener compositions were mainly dominated by BDE 209.Keywords Northern Yellow Sea Á Polybrominated diphenyl ethers Á Pollution monitoring Á Seafood Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a group of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) widely used in plastics, textiles, electronics and other materials, and have attracted widespread scientific and regulatory attention. PBDEs have some physicochemical properties similar to other persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are known to bioaccumulate in the environment (de Bruyn et al. 2009;Hites 2004). Concentration of PBDEs in biota is estimated to have been doubling every 5 years and was reported to have increased by 60-fold in human breast milk in Sweden between 1972 and 1997(Meironyte et al. 1999). PBDE's have been shown to be increasing more slowly in Europe and North America following the withdrawl of penta-and octa-BDEs' use and production (Pan et al. 2011). In China however, both production and consumption of BFRs including some PBDE products have risen rapidly in recent years. Marine organisms can accumulate contaminants from their environment and food chain and some of them can be used to indicate the pollutant levels. Therefore, it is important to evaluate PBDEs content and monitor their accumulation in the marine environment and organisms for seafood safety and the health of consumers.Sishili Bay (SB) is an important shallow cultivation area in northern Yellow Sea, China, which is subject to the intense human activity from the surrounded city of Yantai. Over the last decades, the rapid industrialization, urbanization and population development in Yantai city have stressed the surrounding coastal ecosystems. POPs released from the intensive agricultural and industrial activities have been regarded as one of the pollutant sources impacting the health of marine coastal environment and organisms (Fung et al. 2004). Previous studies have showed that the increased POPs along the Yantai coast could cause potential risk for the seafood (Liu et al. 2008;Leng et al. 2009). It is essential to evaluate the PBDEs contents in the marine organisms along the Yantai coast for seafood safety. In this study, mollusks, wild shrimps and crabs were collected from a local seafood market and from the field in the SB, respectively. The PBDEs concentration in wild and aquacultured organisms were studied and compared, aiming to monitor the seafood safety and assess the potential risk to human health. Materials and MethodsFor comparing ...

Brominated and organophosphate flame retardants in indoor dust of Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Implications for human exposure

“…Moreover, phasing out of PBDEs in Asian countries is still not followed strictly and mega production of electronics and other commercial products in these countries resulted into huge contamination of the surrounding environment (Ramu et al, 2010). For example, previous studies highlighted that the sediments from Korean coast (Ramu et al, 2010), and biota of South China Sea (Chen et al, 2013) showed very high levels of PBDEs (predominance of BDE-209) due to extensive industrial activities in the country. Similar results have also been discussed by Dirtu et al (2012) for European countries, and described their sources due to widespread past usage in different commercial formulations.…”