As an assignment from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, a screening study of selected emerging brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polybrominated dibenzofurans (PBDFs) has been carried out. Additional substances in the screening were polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polybrominated dibenzodioxins (PBDDs) and chlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDDs and PCDFs).The overall objective of this screening study was to determine the concentrations of selected BFRs and PBDFs in a variety of media in the Swedish environment. Additional aims were to assess possible emission sources and to highlight important transport pathways in the environment including large scale transport. An issue for the screening was also to investigate the presences of the BFRs in biota to give an indication if they pose an environmental risk. Possible human exposure was investigated by analysing BFRs in human blood samples and PBDFs in human milk samples.Measurements have been carried out both at background- and urban sites. The sampling was mainly performed at the Swedish west coast with Goteborg representing the urban area. Sediment and biota was sampled in the estuary of Gota Alv and in a background area.For identification of pathways to the environment storm water/sludge and samples from WWTPs were collected. Dust samples from different indoor environments were taken both at public spaces and in homes. Air and dust samples were collected at a recycling industry for electronic waste. Fire extinguishing water from a fire at a recycling industry was included in the sampling program.The emerging BFRs, PBDEs and PBDFs occurred in concentrations in air and dust from the recycling industry. The occurrence of BFRs at this electronic waste facility shows that electronic articles contain these chemicals. BDE-209 and DBDPE were found in highest concentrations. DBDPE has similar applications as BDE-209 and it has been marketed as a general substitute for this chemical. The occurrence of PBDFs may indicate that the BFRs are contaminated or that PBDEs are transformed to PBDFs in the recycling processes.The presence of both the emerging BFRs and PBDEs in dust collected in a new private car shows that theses flame retardants are used in textiles and plastic details in newly manufactured cars. DBDPE and BDE-209 which are used as flame retardants in textiles occurred in high concentration. The simultaneous occurrence of high levels of PBDFs indicates presence in BFR formulations.The occurrences of the included BFRs in dust from different indoor environments indicates a wide application of these chemicals in articles and household products and that diffuse emissions of BFRs from consumer products may take place in the indoor environment. The differences in the distribution among the BFRs for the different dust samples indicate that tHigher ratios of PBDFs vs. BDE-209 were found in dust from environments that are likely to contain BFR containing plastics (offices and recycling facilities) than in dust from environments containing BFR treated textile products (car and conference center interiors). This may indicate that PBDFs are formed during production or use of flame retarded plastics.The emissions of BFRs and PBDFs will take place both to air and water. BFRs and PBDFs emitted indoors to air and to settled dust may via ventilation be transported to outdoor air. The presence of these pollutants in influent, effluent and sludge from municipal WWTPs also indicate that diffusive emissions from household products occur and that these chemicals may be emitted to the environment from WWTPs. The occurrence of the BFRs and PBDD/Fs in storm water and fire extinguishing water shows that this may also be pathways to the environment.Thus, the emerging BFRs and PBDFs were generally found in samples from WWTPs, storm water, indoor air and dust, indicating that they may be emitted and transported to the environment via these sources and pathways.Several of the emerging BFRs occurred in all the included environmental matrices except in atmospheric deposition. The concentrations in samples at urban sites were higher compared to background samples.Most of the emerging BFRs were detected in urban air, in the same levels or somewhat lower than BDE-47, -100 and -99. BDE-209 occurred in the highest concentrations. One of the emerging BFRs, HBB, was detected in background air, in the same concentration range as the PBDEs. It was found both at the Swedish West coast and in the remote area in Northern Finland, which shows the potential for atmospheric long range transport for HBB.PBDD/Fs were found in all air and deposition samples. There appears to be an annual variation in both PBDD/F and PCDD/F concentrations, with higher levels during winter. Significantly elevated levels were detected in May-June 2011, which coincided with extensive forest fires in southern Russia and Ukraine.In sediments, the emerging BFRs were only detected in a sample from Gota Alv near a former industrial site where they occurred in the same concentration level as the penta-BDEs.The occurrence of emerging BFRs in biota from background sites shows that these chemicals like the PBDEs are further spread to the ecosystem. The distribution of the BFRs differed between the various species as well as among the different sampling sites.The only emerging BFR detected in human sera was PBEB, which occurred in one out of 15 samples. PCDD/Fs were found in all human milk samples, but no PBDD/Fs were detected.

In the Sundsvall Bay area, located in the southern Bothnian Sea (a sub-basin of the Baltic Sea), industrial history have included a large variety of activities, from small sawmills to large pulp an ...

Surveys of dioxins and related compounds focused on identification and quantification of sources in Sweden show that a major reservoir of dioxins is connected to the use of chlorophenol (CP) based wood preservatives (1,2). In Sweden, CP preservatives have been used at approximately 400 – 500 sawmill sites. The total accumulated amount of dioxins at these sawmill sites, expressed as toxic equivalents (TEQs), is estimated to be in the range of 2-50 kg TEQ (1). Today, soil at these sites are contaminated not only with CPs, but also with by-products in the technical formulations, viz. polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), diphenyl ethers (PCDEs) and phenoxy phenols (PCPPs) (See Figure 1).

The possible role of oxides and/or elements in the transformation of PCDDs in US ball clayy exhibiting the 'natural formation' pattern

PCDD/F Contaminated Soils in Northern Sweden as an Outcome of Wood Preservation with Chlorophenols

Introduction Studies have found elevated levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) in ball clay and kaolin samples from specific regions in the United States and Germany 1, 2, . In general, the congener profiles associated with these clay samples include, increasing PCDD concentration with increasing chlorine substitution, and low or even undetectable levels of PCDFs at comparable detection limits. Moreover, 1,2,3,7,8,9-HxCDD dominates the 2,3,7,8-substituted HxCDD isomers. The congener patterns and the high ∑PCDDs/ ∑PCDFs ratio associated with these samples are unlike those from known anthropogenic sources, chemical products or environmental samples. The natural processes that produce the PCDDs observed in these clay samples are not yet understood.

Soils from five agricultural sites, three research sites, and two privately owned farms were analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzo‐ p ‐dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybronimated diphenylethers (PBDEs). In soils that had not been treated with sludge (reference soils), the international toxic equivalents (I‐TEQs) were 0.6 to 1.5 pg/g dry matter (DM) for the PCDD/Fs, which are low compared to generally reported background soil levels in Europe. The concentrations of sum of six penta‐ and hexa‐PCBs were 450 to 1,400 pg/g DM. The PBDEs 47 and 99 dominated among the tri‐ to hepta‐PBDEs analyzed (8–80 pg/g DM). The impact of adding 1 to 3 tonnes of sludge (DM) per hectare per year on the concentrations was studied at the three research sites by calculating ratios of the compounds in sludge‐treated soil to reference soil (S/R ratio). The concentrations of I‐TEQs did not increase in the sludge‐treated soil, whereas the S/R ratios for PBDEs were greater than one. Also, although the PCB contents were higher in the sludge‐treated soils, the background sources were more important for the concentrations of PCBs than of PBDEs. The largest increase in the S/R ratios was found at a private farm where large amounts of sludge had been used in the past. Accumulation of the compounds in earthworms from the sites also was investigated. The biota‐soil accumulation factors (BSAFs) of the tested compounds declined in the following order: ortho ‐PCBs ∼ PBDEs > non‐ortho ‐PCBs > 2,3,7,8‐substituted PCDD/Fs. The average BSAF for ortho ‐PCBs was five (organic matter/lipids), and the lowest BSAFs (0.1–0.8) found were for octachlorodibenzo‐ p ‐dioxin. To our knowledge, accumulation of PBDEs in earthworms has not been published previously.

Sources of PCDDs and PCDFs in sediments and wetland soils from the lower Roanoke river basin in North Carolina, USA : Part II 2002

Polychlorinated dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF) have been identified in technical products and pesticides, most of which are not very widely used today. Other sources are incinerators of various types like MSW incinerators, hazardous waste incinerators and industrial incinerators. PCDDs and PCDFs have also been identified in exhausts from cars running on leaded gasoline with halogenated additives. Background levels of PCDDs and PCDFs have been identified in fish and other aquatic organisms from the Great Lakes and the Baltic Sea, and also in human adipose tissue samples from U.S.A., Canada, Sweden, Japan and Vietnam as well as in samples of breast milk from Sweden, Denmark, West Germany, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia and Vietnam. The isomeric pattern in all these biological samples is very similar. The relative importance of different sources to the general background is difficult to estimate although the contribution of direct inhalation from point sources like MSW incinerators is small.