Brominated Flame Retardants in the Environment—The Price for our Convenience?

Jacob de Boer

doi:10.1071/EN04038

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Brominated Flame Retardants in the Environment—The Price for our Convenience?

Jacob de Boer

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- Author Affiliations

Wageningen University, Animal Sciences Group, Netherlands Institute for Fisheries Research, 1970 AB IJmuiden, The Netherlands. Email: jacob.deboer@wur.nl

Jacob de Boer is an analytical chemist (Ph.D. Free University in Amsterdam). He has worked for 30 years on the development of analytical methods for the determination and monitoring of PCBs, organochlorine pesticides, BFRs, and several other classes of contaminants, resulting in about 100 scientific articles. He acts as a coordinator a number of European research projects, such as DIFFERENCE and DIAC (alternative methods for dioxin analysis), sub-coordinator of the FIRE project (endocrine effects of brominated flame retardants), and advisor for a number of international organizations and industries.

Environmental Chemistry 1(2) 81-85 https://doi.org/10.1071/EN04038
Submitted: 26 April 2004 Accepted: 9 August 2004 Published: 21 October 2004

Environmental Context. Flame retardants have been employed for centuries to reduce the flammability of materials; in our age, furniture, textiles, and electronic equipment are heavy users of effective and inexpensive brominated flame retardants. Evidence links these materials to endocrine disruption and bioaccumulation, but better detection and quantification of this large (75 member) molecular family, in order to explore the fine details of this toxic link, is both lacking and of pressing need.

Abstract. This paper reviews information on the occurrence of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in various environmental compartments. The lack of information on BFRs other than pentabrominated diphenylethers (pentaBDEs) is emphasized, as well as the need for better analytical methods and the need for more toxicological information on BFRs. Concern is expressed on the bioaccumulating properties of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). It is shown that decaBDE can accumulate in birds of prey, although the levels found are not particularly high. A parallel is drawn with the occurrence of other contaminants that are being found in our environment and foodstuffs, such as polyfluorinated sulphones, phthalates, alkylphenols, and others. These substances play a key role in our modern society, often for our convenience. However, a price may have to be paid by later generations if the consequences of their presence in the environment would be neglected.

Keywords. : bromine — combustion — environmental chemistry — halogen compounds — toxicant

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF), Brussels, Belgium, for their support of several research projects on BFRs. This article is dedicated to Dr. Paul Hagel, former director of the Netherlands Institute for Fisheries Research, on the occasion of his 65th birthday. He has been (and still is) an inexhaustible source of ideas on research on environmental contaminants. Throughout my career he has inspired me in an invaluable way. This paper was the opening lecture of the Dioxin 2003 symposium held in Boston (USA) in August 2003.

References

Brominated Flame Retardants in the Environment—The Price for our Convenience?

Acknowledgements

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