Brominated flame retardants and dechlorane plus in the marine atmosphere from Southeast Asia toward Antarctica

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

The occurrence, distribution, and temperature dependence in the marine atmosphere of several alternative brominated flame retardants (BFRs), Dechlorane Plus (DP) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were investigated during a sampling cruise from the East Indian Archipelago toward the Indian Ocean and further to the Southern Ocean. Elevated concentrations were observed over the East Indian Archipelago, especially of the non-PBDE BFR hexabromobenzene (HBB) with concentrations up to 26 pg m-3 which were found to be related to continental air masses from the East Indian Archipelago. Other alternative BFRs- pentabromotoulene (PBT), pentabromobenzene (PBBz), and 2,3-dibromopropyl-2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether (DPTE)-were elevated, too, with concentrations up to 2.8, 4.3, and 2.3 pg m-3, respectively. DP was detected from 0.26 to 11 pg m-3 and bis-(2-ethylhexyl)- tetrabromophthalate (TBPH) ranged from not detected (nd) to 2.8 pg m -3, respectively. PBDEs ranged from nd to 6.6 pg m-3 (∑10PBDEs) with the highest individual concentrations for BDE-209. The approach of Clausius-Clapeyron (CC) plots indicates that HBB is dominated by long-range atmospheric transport at lower temperatures over the Indian and Southern Ocean, while volatilization processes and additional atmospheric emissions dominate at higher temperatures. In contrast, BDE-28 and -47 are dominated by long-range transport without fresh emissions over the entire cruise transect and temperature range, indicating limited fresh emissions of the meanwhile classic PBDEs.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEnvironmental Science & Technology
Volume46
Issue number6
Pages (from-to)3141-3148
Number of pages8
ISSN0013-936X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20.03.2012

    Research areas

  • Chemistry - Antarctica, Atmospheric emission, Atmospheric transport, Bde-209, Brominated flame retardants, Brominated flame retardants (BFRs), Continental air mass, Dechlorane plus, Elevated concentrations, Hexabromobenzene, Higher temperatures, Indian ocean, Long range transport, Marine atmosphere, Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDEs), Southeast Asia, Southern ocean, Temperature dependence, Temperature range, Volatilization process

DOI