Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in China: Sources, Trends, and Their Adverse Impacts on Human Health - Environmental Contamination: Health Risks and Ecological Restoration - page 117

MainSourcesofPBDEsintheEnvironmentofChina
As. lame. retardants,. PBDEs. are. additives. that. are. physically. mixed. with.
polymers.in.most.products.and,.therefore,.may.separate.and.leach.out.from.
the. surface. of. their. product. applications,. entering. into. air,. and. eventually.
depositing.onto.water,.sediments,.and.soils.(Deng.et.al..2007,.Liu.et.al..2005a)..
Therefore,. most. household. items,. especially. furniture,. TVs,. VCD. players,.
washing.machines,.refrigerators,.computers,.and.children's.toys,.which.con-
tain. lame. retardants,. are. common. sources. of. PBDEs. (Pamade. et. al.. 2002)..
It. is. envisaged.that. company.ofices,. municipal.administration.ofices,.and.
school. classrooms,. which. often. contain. a.high. density. of.electronic.equip-
ment,.emit.a.substantial.amount.of.PBDEs.into.the.indoor.air.
The. concentrations. of. PBDEs. in. the. air. and. dust. of. homes. and. ofices. in.
Taiwan. and. Guangzhou,. South. China,. were. analyzed.. Table. 7.1. shows. that.
the.concentrations.of.PBDEs.in.ofice.dust.were.1.2-1.6.times.higher.than.that.
of.house.dust.in.both.Taiwan.and.Guangzhou..In.addition,.PBDEs.in.indoor.
air. were. three. times. higher. than. that. detected. in. outdoor. air. (Huang. et. al..
2009b,.Wang.et.al..2011)..No.doubt,.all.electrical.and.electronic.equipment.are.
the.most.common.sources.of.PBDEs..Although.China.has.historically.been.an.
agricultural.country,.the.rapid.industrialization.and.modernization.in.the.past.
two.decades.have.resulted.in.rapid.production.and.widespread.usage.of.elec-
tronic.equipment.and,.hence,.the.high.PBDEs.detected.in.indoor.air.and.dust.
The. Pearl. River. Delta. (approximately. 41,000.km 2 ). has. experienced. rapid.
development. in. the. past. decades.. The. gross. industrial. output. in. 2001. was.
U.S.$145.billion,.accounting.for.13%.of.the.total.gross.industrial.output.for.
the.whole.of.China.(excluding.Hong.Kong)..With.a.size.bigger.than.the.Pearl.
River.Delta,.the.Yangtze.River.Delta.has.also.undergone.rapid.socioeconomic.
development.during.the.past.two.decades..In.addition,.the.Chinese.govern-
ment-designated. areas. such. as. Shantou. and. Xiamen. as. Economic. Special.
Developing.Areas,. as. well. as. the. newly. developed. region. of. “Bei. Bu. Wan.
Developing. Areas,”. which. speciically. focuses. on. trading. with. Southern.
Asian.countries.

TABLE 7.1
Concentrations.of.PBDEs.in.Dust.and.Air.of.Family.Houses.and.Ofices.in.
Hsinchu.(Taiwan).and.Guangzhou.(South.China).(Dust.ng/g.dry.wt.,.Air.pg/m 3 )

Ofice
Dust
(ng/g)

House
Dust
(ng/g)

Ofice
(pg/m 3 )

Family
(pg/m 3 )

Indoor
(pg/m)

Outdoor
(pg/m 3 ) Site References

Hsinchu 3758 2326 160 95 141 49 Wang.et.al..

(2011)

Guangzhou 3179 2662 / / / / Huang.et.al..

(2009b)