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Hexabromocyclododecanes in soils and plants from a plastic waste treatment area in North China: occurrence, diastereomer- and enantiomer-specific profiles, and metabolization

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Abstract

Plastic waste is a source of organic contaminants such as hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs). HBCDs have been found to cause developmental and reproductive toxicity; it is important to investigate the occurrence and metabolization of HBCDs in the soil environments with plastic waste contamination. This work analyzed HBCDs and their metabolites in soil and plant samples collected from Xinle and Dingzhou—the major plastic waste recycling centers in North China. Results showed that total HBCD concentrations in soils followed the order: plastic waste treatment site (11.0–624 ng/g) > roadside (2.96–85.4 ng/g) ≥ farmland (8.69–55.5 ng/g). HBCDs were detected in all the plant samples with total concentrations ranging from 3.47 to 23.4 ng/g. γ-HBCD was the dominant congener in soils, while α-HBCD was preferentially accumulated in plants. Compositions of HBCD isomers in soils and plants were significantly different (P < 0.05) among sampling sites and among plant species. HBCDs in farmland soil and all plant samples exhibited high enantio-selectivity based on the enantiomeric fractions (EFs). Furthermore, metabolites of pentabromocyclododecenes (PBCDEs) were frequently identified in soils, and mono-OH-HBCDs were the most common ones in plants. This study for the first time provides evidences of HBCD contamination in the soil-plant system caused by plastic waste, their stereo-selectivity, and metabolization behavior, improving our understanding of the environmental behavior and fate of HBCDs.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Rixiang Huang of Georgia Institute of Technology for his English polishing, comments and suggestions on the manuscript. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Projects 21577155, 21537005, and 21621064) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB14020202).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. O. Box 2871, Beijing, 100085, China

    Honglin Huang, Dan Wang, Weining Wan & Bei Wen

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Dan Wang

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  1. Honglin Huang
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  2. Dan Wang
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  4. Bei Wen
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Correspondence to Honglin Huang.

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Responsible editor: Hongwen Sun

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Huang, H., Wang, D., Wan, W. et al. Hexabromocyclododecanes in soils and plants from a plastic waste treatment area in North China: occurrence, diastereomer- and enantiomer-specific profiles, and metabolization. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 21625–21635 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9792-9

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