Release of polybrominated diphenyl ethers from wastewater in China

Introduction Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of flame retardants that were added to thousands of consumer products, such as thermoplastics, electronic equipment, and textiles (Hale et al., 2001).Research has revealed that municipal sewage could be a significant source of PBDEs contamination that is ubiquitous throughout the environment (North, 2004; Song et al., 2006). The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is one of the largest manufacturing bases of electronic products and also one of the largest dumping sites of e-wastes in China. Previous reports have demonstrated significant PBDE pollution in air, sediment, water, biota, and soil in the PRD (Chen et al., 2006; Mai et al., 2005; Guan et al., 2007; Guo et al., 2007). In this study, a detailed investigation of PBDEs was conducted in municipal sewage from the PRD to estimate potential discharge of the PBDEs into the environment through sewage.