Guzzonato A, Puype F, Harrad S J
School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2017 Jul 19;19(7):956-963. doi: 10.1039/c7em00160f.
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) have been used intentionally in a wide range of plastics, but are now found in an even wider range of such materials (including children's toys and food contact articles) as a result of recycling practices that mix BFR-containing waste plastics with "virgin" materials. In this study Br was quantified in toy and food contact samples on the assumption that its concentration can be used as a metric for BFR contamination. Subsequently, compound specific determination of BFRs was performed to evaluate the validity of the aforementioned assumption, crucial to render rapid, inexpensive, in situ Br determination in non-laboratory environments (such as waste handling facilities) a viable option for sorting wastes according to their BFR content. We report semi-quantitative compound specific BFR concentrations to give an overview of the distribution of individual BFRs in the analyzed samples. Finally, we evaluated the correlations between waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) related substances (Ca, Sb and rare earth elements (REEs)) and Br as a proxy for identifying poor sorting practices in different waste streams. 26 samples of toys, food-contact articles and WEEE were analyzed with a suite of different techniques in order to obtain comprehensive information about their elemental and molecular composition. The information obtained from principal component analysis about WEEE-related compounds provides new insights into the influence of sorting practices on the extent of products' contamination and bringing out polymer-related trends in the pollutants' signature. 61% of all samples were Br positive: of these samples, 45% had decaBDE concentrations exceeding the concentration limits for PBDEs and their main constituent polymer was - according to the REE signature of such samples - Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), uses of which include copying equipment, laptops and computers. The ability to better track chemicals of concern and their trends in products is the main requirement for high-level management and control of material cycles to become non-toxic in the future as proposed in the EU's 7 Environmental Action Plan.
溴化阻燃剂（BFRs）曾被有意用于多种塑料中，但由于回收利用做法将含BFR的废塑料与“原生”材料混合，现在在更广泛的此类材料（包括儿童玩具和食品接触物品）中被发现。在本研究中，假设溴的浓度可作为BFR污染的指标，对玩具和食品接触样品中的溴进行了定量。随后，对BFRs进行了化合物特异性测定，以评估上述假设的有效性，这对于在非实验室环境（如废物处理设施）中进行快速、廉价的原位溴测定，从而根据其BFR含量对废物进行分类是一个可行的选择至关重要。我们报告了半定量的化合物特异性BFR浓度，以概述分析样品中各个BFR的分布情况。最后，我们评估了废弃电子电气设备（WEEE）相关物质（钙、锑和稀土元素（REEs））与溴之间的相关性，作为识别不同废物流中分类不当做法的代理指标。对26个玩具、食品接触物品和WEEE样品采用了一系列不同技术进行分析，以获取有关其元素和分子组成的全面信息。从主成分分析中获得的关于WEEE相关化合物的信息，为分类做法对产品污染程度的影响以及揭示污染物特征中与聚合物相关的趋势提供了新的见解。所有样品中有61%溴呈阳性：在这些样品中，45%的十溴二苯醚浓度超过了多溴二苯醚的浓度限值，并且根据此类样品的REE特征，其主要成分聚合物是丙烯腈-丁二烯-苯乙烯（ABS），其用途包括复印设备、笔记本电脑和计算机。如欧盟第七个环境行动计划所提议的，未来要使物质循环实现无毒化，更好地追踪关注化学品及其在产品中的趋势的能力是高级别管理和控制的主要要求。
