PARENT SESSION
TP8 Polyfluorinated and polybrominated chemicals: Environmental aspects
3:00 PM to 6:30 PM, Tuesday, 08 May 2001
Session Chair: S. Mabury
Room 8

(286) Atmospheric levels and depsotitiions of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in southern Sweden.

ter Schure, A.T.F.¹, Larsson, P.¹, ¹

ABSTRACT- Within the program "A new strategy for the risk management of chemicals" polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been studied in the atmosphere and in deposition in southern Sweden. Recent studies show that due to their persistence, PBDEs are widespread and accumulate in the environment. However, until now there are few data on their emission and transport routes into the environment. In this study ambient air, wet- and dry deposition was sampled. The analytical method used, consisted of ultra-sound extraction, clean-up, and fractionation over silica-gel columns and detection by GC/ECD and GC/MS. During two individual sampling occasions in April '00, ambient air was drawn through two polyurethane foam (PUF) plugs. BDE levels (9 congeners) were 1.8 ± .07 pg/m³. Wet- and dry deposition was collected over a 14 day period in August '00. The particulate and dissolved phases were separated during sampling, using a glass-fiber filter followed by two PUF plugs. BDE levels (9 congeners) in totla deposition were 627 ± 324 pg/m²day, and the particle bound PBDEs contributed for 69 ± 7 % of the total deposition. Noteworthy, BDE47 (2,2',4,4') and BDE 99 (2,2',4,4',5) were dominant in all air and depsotion samples, whereas BDE100 (2,2',4,4',6) and BDE183 (2,2',4,4',5',6) were also dominant in the particulate and dissolved phases of the deposition, respectively. These results show that as for many other pollutants such as PCBs and pesticides, the atmosphere is an important transport route of PBDEs in the environment. Results from a more extensive study performed in November to December '00 will also be presented.

Key words: polybrominated diphenyl ethers, wet/dry deposition, ambient air