Air Quality Processes Research Section, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 4905 Dufferin Street, Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T4, Canada.
Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Burlington, Ontario L7S 1A1, Canada.
Environ Sci Technol. 2023 Sep 26;57(38):14396-14406. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.3c04876. Epub 2023 Sep 11.
Since the phase-out of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), large amounts of alternative halogenated flame retardants (AHFRs) have been introduced to the market. Due to their persistence and toxicity, halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) have become a concern for the ecosystem and human health. However, there remains limited assessment of the atmospheric loadings, sources, and environmental fate of HFRs in Lake Ontario, which receives urban-related inputs and cumulative chemical inputs from the upstream Great Lakes from Canada and the United States. We combined long-term measurements with a modified multimedia model based on site-specific environmental parameters from Lake Ontario to understand the trends and fate of HFRs. All HFRs were detected in the air, precipitation, lake trout, and herring gull egg samples throughout the sampling periods. General decreasing trends were found for PBDEs, while the temporal trends for AHFRs were not clear. Physical-chemical properties and emissions significantly influence the levels, profiles, and trends. Using the probabilistic modeling, HFR concentrations in lake water and sediment were predicted to be close to the measurement, suggesting a good performance for the modified model. The loadings from tributaries and wastewater effluent were the primary input pathways. Transformations in the water and sedimentation were estimated to be the dominant output pathway for the three HFRs.
自多溴二苯醚（PBDEs）逐步淘汰以来，大量的替代型卤代阻燃剂（AHFRs）已被引入市场。由于其持久性和毒性，卤代阻燃剂（HFRs）已成为生态系统和人类健康关注的问题。然而，对于安大略湖的 HFRs 的大气负荷、来源和环境归宿，仍缺乏有限的评估，安大略湖接收来自加拿大和美国的上游大湖的城市相关输入和累积化学输入。我们结合了长期测量和基于安大略湖特定环境参数的改良多媒体模型，以了解 HFRs 的趋势和归宿。在整个采样期间，空气中、降水、湖鳟鱼和海鸥蛋样本中都检测到了所有 HFRs。发现 PBDEs 呈普遍下降趋势，而 AHFRs 的时间趋势不明显。物理化学性质和排放显著影响水平、分布和趋势。使用概率建模，预测湖水中和沉积物中的 HFR 浓度接近测量值，表明改良模型性能良好。支流和废水的负荷是主要的输入途径。水和沉降中的转化被估计为三种 HFRs 的主要输出途径。
