Brominated (polybrominated)
Flame Retardants
What is this used for?
Where can you find them?
Stockholm Convention
They are biomagnified toxic compounds, meaning they accumulate within food chains.
They accumulate in fatty tissues of organisms and are passed up the food chain to larger organisms in a process known as Biomagnification. PBDE levels in people double approximately every five years.
PBDEs enter the air, water, and soil when they are put into products or when they exit products as a result of degredation. They biomagnify up the food chain and are stored in fats. They are now ubiquitous in the environment - found from the Arctic to the Antarctic - and are present in all human bodies
Linked to health and cognitive problems
- thyroid disruption,
- memory and learning problems,
- delayed mental and physical development,
- lower IQ,
- advanced puberty
- and reduced fertility.
- Other flame retardants have been linked to cancer.
- At the same time, recent studies suggest that the chemicals may not effectively reduce the flammability of treated products.
This means...
- Carcinogenic- causing cancer
- Mutagenic- induces or increases mutation
- Teratogenic- causing developmental malformation
- and Neurotoxic- dangerous to the nervous system
The Cycle
Biomagnification of Polybrominated flame retardants in the food chain.
As a result of their environmental persistence, PBDEs and HBCD have become frequent
global contaminants. These compounds bioaccumulate in marine food
webs and have been found at high concentrations in top predators
such as arctic marine mammals. The most abundant BFR, brominated diphenyl ether, was found in detectable concentrations in zooplankton, the lowest trophic level. Most of the investigated BFRs biomagnified as function of tropic level in the food chain. A noticeable exception occurred at the highest trophic level, the polar bear, in which only BDE-153 was found to increase from its main prey, the ringed seal, indicating that polar bears appear to be able to metabolize and biodegrade most BFRs. In contrast, lower-brominated PBDEs, showed clear signs of bioaccumulation in zooplankton, polar cod, and ringed seals. Absorption and debromination rates may be more important for bioaccumulation rates of BFRs in zooplankton, polar cod, and ringed seals. This study demonstrates that PBDEs and HBCD have reached measurable concentrations even in the lower trophic levels (invertebrates and fish) in the Arctic and biomagnifies in the polar bear food chain.How does it spread?
Information is limited on how PBDEs are released from articles to the environment. However, it is believed that PBDEs are released to the air when articles are being manufactured, during the article’s life span, and in small amounts from landfills (by leaching) and emissions (from incineration of waste). More research is needed to understand how these chemicals move to and around the environment.
How can you avoid it?
Vocab.
- Bioaccumulation- increase in concentration of a pollutant from the environment to the first organism in a food chain
- Biomagnification- increase in concentration of a pollutant from one link in a food chain to another
- Carcinogenic- causing cancer
- Mutagenic- induces or increases mutation
- Teratogenic- causing developmental malformation
- Neurotoxic- dangerous to the nervous system