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Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and heavy metals in road dusts from a plastic waste recycling area in north China: implications for human health

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Abstract

Road dusts were collected from an area where intense mechanical recycling of plastic wastes occurs in Wen’an, north China. These dusts were investigated for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and heavy metals contamination to assess the health risk related to these components. Decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) and Σ21PBDE concentrations in these dusts ranged from 2.67 to 10,424 ng g−1 and from 3.23 to 10,640 ng g−1, respectively. These PBDE concentrations were comparable to those observed in road dust from e-waste recycling areas but were 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than concentrations in outdoor or road dusts from other areas. This indicates that road dusts in the study area have high levels of PBDE pollution. BDE-209 was the predominant congener, accounting for 86.3 % of the total PBDE content in dusts. Thus, commercial deca-BDE products were the dominant source. The average concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Sb, and Zn in these same dust samples were 10.1, 0.495, 112, 54.7, 0.150, 71.8, 10.6, and 186 mg kg−1, respectively. The geoaccumulation index suggests that road dusts in this area are moderately to heavily polluted with Cd, Hg, and Sb. This study shows that plastic waste processing is a major source of toxic pollutants in road dusts in this area. Although the health risk from exposure to dust PBDEs was low, levels of some heavy metals in this dust exceeded acceptable risk levels for children and are of great concern.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Environmental Protection Public Welfare Science and Technology Research Program of China (201309023), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2015MS60).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOE Key Laboratory of Regional Energy and Environmental Systems Optimization, Environmental Research Academy, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China

    Zhenwu Tang, Yuwen Wang & Miao Chai

  2. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Zhenwu Tang, Qifei Huang, Yufei Yang & Zhiqiang Nie

  3. National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100021, China

    Jiali Cheng

  4. Center for Environmental Remediation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Jun Yang

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Tang, Z., Huang, Q., Yang, Y. et al. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and heavy metals in road dusts from a plastic waste recycling area in north China: implications for human health. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 625–637 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5296-7

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