Elsevier

Environmental Research

Volume 168, January 2019, Pages 420-427
Environmental Research

Occurrence of flame retardants in landfills: A case study in Brazil

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.10.010Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Occurrence of flame retardants in a Brazilian landfill site was studied.

  • PBDEs, NBFRs and OPFRs profiles in soil and dust were in accordance to their sources.

  • OPFRs were detected in well water and leachate.

Abstract

Huge amounts of waste containing flame retardants reach landfills annually, which can result in environmental contamination if this type of solid residues is not properly managed. This study presents data concerning the occurrence of organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and new brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) in soil, dust, leachate and well water samples from a landfill in Brazil. Samples were collected in different points of the landfill site, including offices, concierge, electronic waste storage area, bulk waste storage area, a place where a recycling cooperative operates, leachate pound and wells. Most of the flame retardants (FRs) were quantified in soil samples (up to 2500 ng g−1). The tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP) and tris(1,3-dichloroisopropyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) were present at the highest levels in the site where bulk waste was disposed in the open air. The most abundant brominated FRs in soil samples were BDE-99, BDE-209, decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) and 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE), and the highest levels were observed in the samples collected from the electronic waste storage area. Concerning dust samples, the highest levels of brominated FRs were observed in the electronic waste storage area, while the highest levels of OPFRs were observed in the landfill office. TCIPP, TDCIPP and tris(2-choroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) were quantified in the well water sample collected downstream the bulk waste area. Finally, six OPFRs were quantified in leachate at concentrations ranging from 14 to 965 ng L−1. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that an improper management of wastes containing FRs in landfills can potentially contaminate the surrounding environment and groundwater.

Introduction

The constant development of new materials, which sometimes contain hazardous substances, draw attention to the necessity of a continuous evaluation on the efficiency of the processes related to the management of solid residues in landfills in order to protect the environment from anthropogenic contamination. Flame retardants (FRs) are among the hazardous substances that reach landfills and that deserve special attention. FRs are used in a variety of materials in order to avoid fires and decrease the flame spread. These compounds are used in electric and electronic equipments, textiles, furniture, construction materials, vehicles, etc. The polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a FR class that was prohibited in many countries due to their hazardous properties and environmental persistence (OJEU - Official Journal of the European Union, 2003, UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme, 2009, USEPA - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2009). Other FRs have been used as PBDEs substitutes, but the safety of some of these compounds has been discussed due their widespread environmental distribution and toxic properties, as is the case of some organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) and new brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) (Greaves and Letcher, 2017, Iqbal et al., 2017).

PBDEs, OPFRs and NBFRs are added during the polymerization process and are not chemically bound to the materials and consequently they are easily released during the life cycle of products containing these FR. The emission of FRs from materials can occur by different mechanisms, including volatilization followed by air/particle partition, direct contact between the material and dust, abrasion resulting in formation of small particles and fibres, and leaching (Rauert and Harrad, 2015, Rauert et al., 2014, Salthammer et al., 2003, Stubbings and Harrad, 2018). Given that huge amounts of solid residues containing FRs reach landfills, these sites can work as a punctual source of FR retardants to the surrounding environment if these residues are not properly managed. Waste of electronics and polyurethane foam are of special concerning due leaching of FRs from these materials (Stubbings and Harrad, 2018, Zhou et al., 2013). The occurrence of brominated and organophosphorus flame retardants in landfill soils and leachates was recently reported (Deng et al., 2018, Matsukami et al., 2017, Morin et al., 2017, Seeberger et al., 2016). In addition, knowledge about levels and partition of FRs in landfill and e-waste facilities is important in order to allow to assess the exposure of workers (Seeberger et al., 2016).

However, data concerning the presence and partition of PBDEs and other flame retardants in landfills are scarce. These studies are necessary in order to evaluate their levels and fate, which can support regulations concerning the use of these substances and the disposal of residues containing FRs. This study presents a case study concerning the occurrence of PBDEs, NBFRs and OPFRs in a landfill located in Araraquara city, Brazil. Soil, dust, leachate and well water samples were analysed in order to identify the most abundant compounds and their partition and fate in the landfill. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to assess the presence of different FR families in landfills in a South America Country.

Section snippets

Chemicals

A PBDE mix (BDEs 28, 47, 99, 100, 153, 154, 183 and 209) in isooctane: toluene (80:20) at 20 µg mL−1 (200 µg mL−1 for BDE-209) and individual solutions of bis(2-ethylhexyl) tetrabromophthalate (BEH-TEBP) at 100 µg mL−1 in toluene, 2-ethylhexyl 2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (EH-TBB) at 100 µg mL−1 in toluene and 3,3′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-77) at 50 µg mL−1 in isooctane were acquired from Accustandard (USA). Decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) at 25 µg mL−1 in toluene,

Results and discussion

A case study concerning the occurrence of different FR families in soil, dust, well water and leachate from a landfill in Brazil indicated that an inadequate disposal of wastes containing FRs can result in dispersion of these contaminants from landfills to the surrounding environment, and a high potential to pollute groundwater was observed for some OPFRs. In the next subsections the results obtained in each matrix type are presented and discussed.

Conclusions

Flame retardants of different chemical classes were quantified in soil, dust, leachate and well water from a landfill in Brazil. BDE-209 and DBDPE were the most abundant PBDEs in dust and soil, while TCIPP, TDCIPP, TBOEP and TPHP were the most abundant OPFRs. The highest FR levels were observed in the samples collected in areas where electronic waste and polyurethane foam waste were stored, and the FR profile was in accordance with the FR usage in the different types of materials. Detection of

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledges the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq – Brazil, grant number 401756/2013-0), the Program Science Without Borders (Brazil, grant number 313856/2013-3), the Foundation for Support of Science, Technology and Education (FACTE, Brazil), and the Spanish Research Council, Spain. This study has been done in the frame of the Spain-Brazil cooperation project COOP-B20361.

References (34)

Cited by (57)

  • Non-target screening of emerging contaminants in landfills: A review

    2023, Current Opinion in Environmental Science and Health
View all citing articles on Scopus

Financial support for the conduct of this research was provided by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq – Brazil, grant number 401756/2013-0).

View full text