Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
(Luo.et.al..2009)..It.seems.that.terrestrial.animals.(including.birds).may.accu-
mulate.high-molecular-weight.PBDE.congeners,.by.feeding.on.food.contam-
inated. with. them. and. breathing. in. dust. containing. BDE-196,. 197,. 206,. 207,.
and.209,.which.are.attached.to.particles.drifting.in.the.air,.whereas.aquatic.
organisms.are.unlikely.to.take.up.BDE-209.and.other.high-molecular-weight.
congeners. because. they. are. commonly. absent. in. the. water. column. (Law.
et.al..2006,.Luo.et.al..2009).
It. has. been. commonly. observed. that. the. concentrations. of. ΣPBDEs. in.
human. milk. have. increased. with. time,. doubling. every. 5. years. within. the.
past.30.years.in.Europe,.Asia,.and.America.(Schecter.et.al..2003,.Hites.2004)..
A. study. showed. that. ΣPBDEs. in. Swedish. human. milk. increased. 60. times.
from.0.07.ng/g.lipid.in.1972.to.4.01.in.1997.(Meironyté.et.al..1999)..It.has.been.
estimated. that. the. concentrations. of. ΣPBDEs. in. human. bodies. increased.
almost.100.times.during.the.past.30.years.(Wang.and.Jiang.2008)..This.has.
become.a.public.health.concern.in.China.recently.due.to.the.rather.high.con-
centrations. of. PBDEs. detected. in. different. ecological. compartments,. espe-
cially.in.several.hotspots.throughout.China.
Table. 7.9. shows. ΣPBDEs. in. human. milk. samples. from. both. urban. and.
rural.areas.in.Beijing.were.lower.(0.97.and.1.22.ng/g.lipid,.respectively).than.
most.other.areas.in.China,.for.example,.Nanjing,.Central.Taiwan,.Zhoushan.
Islands,.Zhejiang.Province,.and.South.China,.ranging.from.3.15.to.7.7.ng/g.
lipid.(Bi.et.al..2007,.Sudaryanto.et.al..2008)..This.is.possibly.due.to.different.
geographical.and.meteorological.conditions.and.lifestyle.choices,.including.
dietary.habits..There.is.also.a.potential.for.PBDEs.to.transfer.from.mothers.to.
babies,.with.median.ΣPBDE.concentrations.found.in.fetal.serum.at.3.9.ng/g.
lipid,.whereas.the.amount.of.ΣPBDEs.present.in.maternal.serum.is.measured.
at.4.40.ng/g.lipid.(Bi.et.al..2006).
Human. tissues. (kidney,. liver,. and. lung). from. residents. of. the. e-waste.
recycling.sites.in.Zhejiang.Province.contained.ΣPBDEs.of.118-270.ng/g.lipid,.
with. BDE-47,. 99,. 100,. 153,. and. 154. being. the. most. common. congeners.. In.
particular,.BDE-47.contributed.to.more.than.half.of.the.total.PBDEs..These.
PBDE. congeners. are. also. commonly. found. in. biota. samples,. especially. in.
aquatic.biota;.however,.residents.and.workers.of.e-waste.sites.always.have.
high. body. loadings. (in. milk,. serum,. and. blood). of. BDE-209.. This. may. be.
attributed. to. their. increased. exposure. to. BDE-209. due. to. the. nature. of.
their.recycling.jobs.with.e-waste.(Liu.et.al..2005a)..The.exposure.pathways.
include.inhalation,.skin.contact,.and.oral.intake.of.contaminated.water.and.
food.. Cancer. patients. from. e-waste. sites. contained. high. concentrations. of.
BDE-209.(191-270.ng/g.lipid),.with.some.individual.patients.containing.body.
burdens. ranging. from. 38,888. to. 72,964.ng/g. lipid,. about. 200. to. 300. times.
higher.than.their.normal.counterparts.(Zhao.et.al..2009)..At.Guiyu,.e-waste.
workers.also.had.high.BDE-209.in.their.serum.samples,.up.to.3439.ng/g.lipid.
(Bi.et.al..2007).
An. attempt. has. been. made. to. compare. the. concentrations. of. PBDEs. in.
Chinese.people.to.populations.in.other.parts.of.the.world,.with.1157.sets.of.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search