Fate and Ecological Effects of Decabromodiphenyl Ether
in a Field Lysimeter
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Abstract
Flame-retardant polybrominated diphenyl
ethers (PBDEs) are environmental
contaminants. Deca-BDE is increasingly used commercially, but little
is known about the long-term fate and impact of its major component,
decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209), on the soil environment. In this
study, we investigated the fate and ecological effect of BDE-209 over
4 years in outdoor lysimeters in a field planted with a rice–wheat
rotation. BDE-209 and six lower-brominated PBDEs (BDE-28, -47, -99,
-153, -154, and -183) were detected in soil layers of the test lysimeter.
We calculated an average BDE-209 migration rate of 1.54 mg·m<sup>–2</sup>·yr<sup>–1</sup>. In samples collected
in May 2008, November 2008, November 2009, November 2010, and November
2011, 95.5%, 94.3%, 108.1%, 33.8%, and 35.5% of the spiked BDE-209
were recovered, respectively. We predicted the major pathway for debromination
of BDE-209 in soil to be: BDE-209→BDE-183→BDE-153/BDE-154→BDE-99→BDE-47→BDE-28.
In plants, BDE-209 and seven lower-brominated PBDEs (BDE-28, -47,
-99, -100, -153, -154, and -183) were detected. BDE-100 was mainly
derived from the debromination of BDE-154 in plants, but sources of
other lower-brominated PBDEs were still difficult to determine. In
soils containing BDE-209 for 4 years, soil urease activity increased,
and soil protease activity slightly decreased. Our results provide
important insights for understanding the behavior of BDE-209 in agricultural
soils