Accelerated industrialization and urbanization,and unregulated disposal of waste of electric and electronic equipment（e-waste） in China have caused environmental pollution of brominated flame retardants（BFRs）.This review summarized the levels,trends,and bioaccumulation characteristics of polybrominated diphenyl ethers（PBDEs） and other potential alternative BFRs including hexabromocyclododecanes（HBCDs）,1,2-bis（2,4,6-dibromophenoxy） ethane（BTBPE） and decabromodiphenylethane（DBDPE） in wildlife from China.PBDE levels in wildlife from China were generally higher than those from other parts in Asia,and were comparable to those from Europe but were lower than those from North America.However,wildlife from the e-waste recycling sites in South China and East China contained much higher PBDEs compared to other reports around the world,suggesting the heavy contamination of PBDEs in these regions.The alternative BFRs were also detected in wildlife,revealing that the animals are exposed to these chemicals,in addition to PBDEs.Temporal trends indicated by levels in marine mammals from South China suggested that PBDE levels increased from the beginning of 1990s to 2000s,but decreased from the middle of 2000s,followed by relatively steady levels.In contrast,HBCDs were found to be continuously increasing from 1997 to 2007,indicating the increasing usage of HBCDs in China in recent years.Compared to PBDE profiles found in other parts,aquatic species and birds from China contained relatively higher contributions of BDE28 and 209,respectively,suggesting the possible different usage pattern of PBDEs.Future works including keeping monitoring at a reasonable scale and frequency to make sure levels near urban centers indicative of population do not increase are needed.Additionally,focus effort on e-waste recycling regions to look for impacts and to determine if regulation/controls are resulting in lower environmental contamination,and incorporation of sentinel species in monitoring efforts are recommended.
Jiangping WuYing ZhangXiaojun LuoYazhe SheLehuan YuShejun ChenBixian Mai
Air samples were collected simultaneously at platform,mezzanine and outdoor in five typical stations of subway system in Shanghai,China using stainless steel canisters and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass selective detector （GC-MSD） after cryogenic pre-concentration.Benzene,toluene,ethylbenzene and xylenes （BTEX） at the platforms and mezzanines inside the stations averaged （10.3±2.1）,（38.7±9.0）,（19.4±10.1） and （30.0±11.1） μg/m 3,respectively;while trichloroethylene （TrCE）,tetrachloroethylene （TeCE） and para-dichlorobenzene （pDCB）,vinyl chloride and carbon tetrachloride were the most abundant chlorinated hydrocarbons inside the stations with average levels of （3.6±1.3）,（1.3±0.5）,（4.1±1.1）,（2.2±1.1） and （1.2±0.3） μg/m 3,respectively.Mean levels of major aromatic and chlorinated hydrocarbons were higher indoor （platforms and mezzanines） than outdoor with average indoor/outdoor （I/O） ratios of 1.1–9.5,whereas no significant indoor/outdoor differences were found except for benzene and TrCE.The highly significant mutual correlations （p0.01） for BTEX between indoor and outdoor and their significant correlation （p0.05） with methyl tert-butyl ether （MTBE）,a marker of traffic-related emission without other indoor and outdoor sources,indicated that BTEX were introduced into the subway stations from indoor/outdoor air exchange and traffic emission should be their dominant source.TrCE and pDCB were mainly from indoor emission and TeCE might have both indoor emission sources and contribution from outdoor air,especially in the mezzanines.
