Degradation of the emerging brominated flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol S using organo-montmorillonite supported nanoscale zero-valent iron

Chao Qin; Junxue Wu; Xinyu Lu; Chenggang Gu; Yang Guo; Guanjiu Hu; Min Chen; Kang Xia; Hui Wang; Mingjie Xie

doi:10.1007/s11356-024-33451-2

Degradation of the emerging brominated flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol S using organo-montmorillonite supported nanoscale zero-valent iron

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2024 Apr 29. doi: 10.1007/s11356-024-33451-2. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chao Qin¹, Junxue Wu², Xinyu Lu³, Chenggang Gu⁴, Yang Guo⁵, Guanjiu Hu¹, Min Chen⁶, Kang Xia⁷, Hui Wang¹, Mingjie Xie⁸

Affiliations

¹ State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Monitoring and Analysis for Organic Pollutants in Surface Water, Jiangsu Environmental Monitoring Center, Nanjing, 210036, China.
² Institute of Plant Protection, Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, 100097, China.
³ Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, 219 Ningliu Road, Nanjing, 210044, Jiangsu, China.
⁴ Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China.
⁵ State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Soil Environmental Management and Pollution Control, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Nanjing, 210042, China.
⁶ College of Science, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
⁷ School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
⁸ Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, 219 Ningliu Road, Nanjing, 210044, Jiangsu, China. mingjie.xie@nuist.edu.cn.

PMID: 38683431
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-33451-2

Abstract

The widespread occurrence of emerging brominated flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol S (TBBPS) has become a major environmental concern. In this study, a nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) impregnated organic montmorillonite composite (nZVI-OMT) was successfully prepared and utilized to degrade TBBPS in aqueous solution. The results show that the nZVI-OMT composite was very stable and reusable as the nZVI was well dispersed on the organic montmorillonite. Organic montmorillonite clay layers provide a strong support, facilitate well dispersion of the nZVI chains, and accelerate the overall TBBPS transformation with a degradation rate constant 5.5 times higher than that of the original nZVI. Four major intermediates, including tribromobisphenol S (tri-BBPS), dibromobisphenol S (di-BBPS), bromobisphenol S (BBPS), and bisphenol S (BPS), were detected by high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), indicating sequential reductive debromination of TBBPS mediated by nZVI-OMT. The effective elimination of acute ecotoxicity predicted by toxicity analysis also suggests that the debromination process is a safe and viable option for the treatment of TBBPS. Our results have shown for the first time that TBBPS can be rapidly degraded by an nZVI-OMT composite, expanding the potential use of clay-supported nZVI composites as an environmentally friendly material for wastewater treatment and groundwater remediation.

Keywords: Brominated flame retardants; Degradation; Montmorillonite; Nanoscale zero-valent iron; Tetrabromobisphenol S.

Abstract

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