Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in China: Sources, Trends, and Their Adverse Impacts on Human Health - Environmental Contamination: Health Risks and Ecological Restoration - page 122

Table. 7.3. further. compares. atmospheric. PBDEs. of. major. cities. in. China.
with.those.of.other.countries..The.air.samples.taken.from.the.325.m.meteoro-
logical.tower.in.Beijing.contained.2.3-18.pg/m 3 .PBDEs.(Li.et.al..2009),.which.
were.similar.to.the.data.obtained.in.ambient.areas.of.United.Kingdom;.Lake.
Michigan,.Louisiana,.the.United.States;.and.Gotska.Sando,.Sweden.(Agrella.
et. al.. 2004),. but. these. were. much. lower. than. the. average. concentrations. in.
the.atmosphere.over.Europe.and.Asia.(Harrad.and.Hunter.2004),.for.exam-
ple,. Osaka. and. Kyoto,. Japan. (Li. et. al.. 2009).. In. general,. the. concentrations.
of.PBDEs.in.the.atmosphere.over.Asia.were.found.to.be.much.higher.than.
that.over.Europe..The.highest.concentrations.of.total.PBDEs.were.detected.in.
the.e-waste.areas.in.China.and.in.other.parts.of.the.world..The.atmosphere.
over.the.Dali.and.Guiyu.e-waste.recycling.sites.had.the.highest.concentra-
tions.(9,133.and.16,575.pg/m 3 ,.respectively)..In.particular,.the.concentrations.
of. BDE-47,. 99,. and. 209. were. greater. than. those. of. other. parts. of. the. world.
(Chen. et. al.. 2006a,. Deng. et. al.. 2007,. BAN. and. SVTC. 2002).. The. concentra-
tion. of. penta-BDE. (475,004.pg/m 3 ). was. even. higher. than. that. found. in. the.
workshop.of. an.e-waste.recycling.site.in.Sweden.(1,200.pg/m 3 ).(Chen. et. al..
2008a).. The. concentrations. of. BDE-47. and. 99. from. a. textile. manufacturing.
site.in.Dongguan.(Guangdong.Province).were.higher.than.that.detected.in.
Guangzhou,.and.Chicago,.the.United.States,.due.to.the.fact.that.BDE-47.and.
99.mixtures.were.blended.into.the.foams.that.make.clothing.thick.and.warm.
(Chen.et.al..2008a,.D'Silvia.et.al..2004)..The.indings.from.an.e-waste.work-
shop.in.Sweden.(see.Table.7.3).showed.that.the.concentrations.of.BDE-47,.99,.
209,.and.ΣPBDEs.reached.1,200,.2,600,.36,000,.and.64,000.pg/m 3 .in.indoor.air,.
respectively.(Sjödin.et.al..2007).
Water
PBDEs.possess.a.very.low.water.solubility,.which.reduces.according.to.the.
increase.in.the.number.of.bromine.atoms.(Liu.et.al..2005a);.therefore,.high-
molecular-weight.BDE.congeners.such.as.BDE-196,.197,.206,.207,.and.209.are.
not. normally. dissolved. in. water.. This. leads. to. very. low. concentrations. in.
both. fresh. and. marine. waters,. with. PBDEs. mainly. attached. to. suspended.
particles,.loating.in.the.water.column..A.study.conducted.by.the.Ministry.
of.Environment.in.Japan.during.1988.and.1997,.indicated.that.no.hexa-,.octa-,.
and. deca-BDEs. were. detected. in. the. water. column. of. all. rivers,. estuaries,.
and.coastal.seawaters.in.Japan.(Wu.et.al..2008)..Moreover,.only.0.1-1.0.pg/L.
of.BDE-47,.99,.and.153.in.the.water.column.and.0.1-4.pg/L.of.BDE-209.associ-
ated.with.particles.were.detected.along.the.coastal.waters.of.The.Netherlands.
(Booij.et.al..2000).
In.China,.there.is.a.lack.of.information.on.PBDEs.in.aquatic.systems,.espe-
cially.the.spatial,.temporal,.and.vertical.distributions.of.PBDEs.in.the.water.
column. of. the. Pearl. River.Estuary..Hence,.the.partition.behavior. of.PBDEs.
between.particle.and.dissolved.phases.was.investigated..Table.7.4.shows.that.
the.concentrations.of.PBDEs.in.water.were.lower.during.late.spring.and.early.