Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in China: Sources, Trends, and Their Adverse Impacts on Human Health - Environmental Contamination: Health Risks and Ecological Restoration - page 125

TABLE 7.5
Mean.Concentrations.(pg/L).of.PBDEs.in.the.Surface.
Microlayer.and.Subsurface.Water.Column,.at.1.m.
Depth,.Hong.Kong.Coastal.Waters

Aberdeen
TyphoonShelter
ΣPBDEs.in.SML 297.3 77.6 71.1
ΣPBDEs.in.SWC 94.8 57.3 11.3
Ratio.SML/SWC 3.14 1.35 6.29
Sources: . Wurl,.O..and.Obbard,.J.P.,. Mar. Pollut. Bull .,.48,.1016,.
2004;. Wurl,. O.. and. Obbard,. J.P.,. Chemosphere ,. 58,.
925,.2005.

Victoria
Harbor

Tolo
Harbor Locations

as.they.are.the.most.common.and.abundant.congeners.found.in.the.environ-
ment..On.the.contrary,.BDE-209.did.not.dissolve.in.water,.due.to.its.high.log.
K ow .(close.to.10)..It.was.mostly.associated.with.particles.and.had.high.con-
centrations. (76-5693.pg/L). for. both. wet. and. dry. seasons.. Particularly. high.
concentrations.were.observed.during.the.wet.season..In.general,.total.PBDEs.
were. much. higher. in. the. aqueous. phase. in. the. Pearl. River. Estuary. due. to.
river.runoff.(Table.7.4,.Luo.et.al..2008).
The. surface. micro. layer. (SML). of. water. represents. the. boundary. layer.
between. the. atmosphere. and. the. subsurface. water. column. (SWC). and. has.
a.typical.thickness. of.40-100.μm. consisting.of.enriched.organic.compounds.
(such.as.lipids,.proteins,.and.deposit.particles.from.the.atmosphere)..A.study.
related.to.Hong.Kong.coastal.waters.revealed.that.PBDEs.attached.to.particles.
and. in. aerosols,. accumulated. in. the. SML. before. being. transferred. into. the.
water.body..Table.7.5.shows.that.the.proportion.of.total.PBDEs.in.the.SML.over.
the.SWC.ranged.from.1.35.to.6.29,.indicating.that.the.concentrations.of.ΣPBDEs.
in.the.sea.surface.microlayer.(SML).were.much.higher.than.that.found.in.the.
SWC.in.Hong.Kong.(Wurl.and.Obbard.2004,.2005,.Wurl.et.al..2006a).

Soil and Sediment

Since.the.1980s,.more.than.20.companies.and.factories.have.been.established.
along.the.southeastern.coastal.areas.of.China,.for.the.commercial.production.
of.Deca-BDE,.with.4000-7000.ton.produced.each.year..Penta-BDE.and.Octa-
BDE.made.up.approximately.12%.and.6%,.respectively,.of.the.PBDE.produc-
tion.market.in.China..In.general,.more.than.80%.of.the.PBDEs.produced.in.
China.were.used.to.manufacture.electrical.and.electronic.equipment,.poly-
mer. materials,. and. textiles. (Chen. and. Zhang. 1998).. Due. to. leaching. from.
the.surface.of.various.consumer.products,.together.with.emissions.from.the.
open.burning.of.e-waste,.PBDEs.are.now.widely.distributed.in.different.eco-
logical.compartments,.where.they.then.become.associated.with.particulates.
and.are.eventually.deposited.in.soil.and.sediments.