Radiolytic degradation of BDE-209 in rice-vegetable rotation soils induced by electron beam irradiation

Pengfei Zhao; Qingfu Ye; Yaoying Zheng; Joann K Whalen; Sufen Zhang; Wei Wang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117564

Radiolytic degradation of BDE-209 in rice-vegetable rotation soils induced by electron beam irradiation

Environ Pollut. 2021 Oct 1:286:117564. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117564. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

Authors

Pengfei Zhao¹, Qingfu Ye², Yaoying Zheng², Joann K Whalen³, Sufen Zhang², Wei Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Nuclear Agricultural Science, Key Laboratory of Nuclear Agricultural Sciences of Ministry of Agriculture and Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China; Key Laboratory of Vector Biology and Pathogen Control of Zhejiang Province, School of Life Sciences, Huzhou University, Huzhou, 313000, China.
² Institute of Nuclear Agricultural Science, Key Laboratory of Nuclear Agricultural Sciences of Ministry of Agriculture and Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China.
³ Department of Natural Resource Science, Macdonald Campus, McGill University, Ste Anne de Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada.
⁴ Institute of Nuclear Agricultural Science, Key Laboratory of Nuclear Agricultural Sciences of Ministry of Agriculture and Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China. Electronic address: wei_wang@zju.edu.cn.

PMID: 34438491
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117564

Abstract

Deca-brominated diphenyl ether (BDE-209) is shown to be persistent in soil and it's urgent to find an effective method to remove BDE-209 from contaminated soil. In this study, the investigation of BDE-209 degradation in three different rice-vegetable rotation soils induced by electron beam (E-beam) irradiation under flooded and non-flooded conditions was conducted. The reductive efficiency of ¹⁴C-BDE209 reached the highest level at 50 kGy and the values in flooded soils of rice-eggplant rotation soil (RES), rice-peanut soil (RPS), and rice-chili pepper soil (RCS) were 93.5%, 87.2%, and 73.8%, respectively. The reductive efficiencies in non-flooded soils of RES, RPS, and RCS were 73.4%, 81.0%, and 78%, respectively. The D_0.5 values (dose required for reducing 50% BDE-209) of BDE-209 in non-flooded soils were lower than those in flooded soils, suggesting greater degradation efficiency of BDE-209 in non-flooded soils than in flooded soils. The BDE-209 was degraded into higher-brominated PBDEs and lower-brominated PBDEs by E-beam irradiation. The results demonstrate that BDE-209 in the soil can be degraded by E-beam irradiation, non-flooded condition is better than flooded condition for the removal of BDE-209, and the main degradation mechanism of BDE-209 by E-beam irradiation is debromination. This study provides a rapid and effective method for degrading BDE-209 that is persistent in soils, and has important implications for the remediation of soil contaminated by PBDEs in and around E-waste dismantling areas.

Keywords: Electron beam irradiation; PBDEs; Radiolytic degradation; Remediation.

MeSH terms

Electrons
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / analysis
Oryza*
Rotation
Soil
Soil Pollutants* / analysis
Vegetables

Substances

Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
Soil
Soil Pollutants
decabromobiphenyl ether