Concentrations, gas-particle distributions, and source indicator analysis of brominated flame retardants in air at Toolik Lake, Arctic Alaska

Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2016 Oct 12;18(10):1274-1284. doi: 10.1039/c6em00395h.

Abstract

Brominated flame-retardants (BFRs) can be released from consumer products, resulting in accumulation in the surrounding environment and/or long-range transport to remote environments. We evaluated concentration changes in a suite of BFRs, including 13 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE), in air at Toolik Lake, Arctic Alaska during the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2013. A high-volume active air sampler was used to collect 2 day integrated samples at the field station and three flow-through air samplers were used to collect 18 day integrated samples along a transect extending away from the field station. The BDE congeners associated with the penta-BDE commercial mixture (BDE-47, -99, and -100) were the most frequently detected BFRs and were found at concentrations consistent with those reported at other Arctic sites. Gas-particle distributions were influenced by temperature and correlations between gas-phase concentrations and temperature suggested that either volatilization from local sources or re-emission from secondary sources (that is, re-volatilization of BFRs that had migrated northwards from distant sources) was important for the lower-brominated BFRs during the warmer months. Source indicator analysis suggested no single dominant geographic source of BFRs while results from the flow-through samplers indicated that the field station itself was not a significant source of BFRs.

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollutants / analysis*
  • Alaska
  • Arctic Regions
  • Bromobenzenes / analysis*
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Flame Retardants / analysis*
  • Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / analysis*
  • Lakes

Substances

  • Air Pollutants
  • Bromobenzenes
  • Flame Retardants
  • Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
  • 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane