TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluating the fate of hexabromocyclododecanes in the coastal environment
T2 - Fugacity analysis using field data
AU - Kim, Yoonsub
AU - Lee, Hwang
AU - Jang, Mi
AU - Hong, Sang Hee
AU - Kwon, Jung Hwan
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the research project entitled “Environmental Risk Assessment of Microplastics in the Marine Environment” from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of Korea and by the National Research Foundation (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government ( MEST ) (No. 2020R1A2C2009244 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/10/1
Y1 - 2021/10/1
N2 - Abundant use of plastic materials has increased the amount of microplastics (MPs) and related hazardous chemicals in the marine environment. Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), brominated flame retardants added to expanded polystyrene (EPS), have been detected in biotic and abiotic samples. In this study, the partition constants of HBCDs between plastics and seawater (KPsw) were determined. Fugacities of HBCDs in EPS, seawater, sediment, and mussels were obtained to determine the directions of the diffusive flux. The fugacities in EPS (fEPS) were greater than those in seawater (fsw), sediment (fsed), and mussels (fswmussel-EPS and fmussel-rock) by three orders of magnitude, indicating that EPS plastics are a significant source of HBCDs. The fmussel-rock of α-HBCD in rock mussels was greater than fsw by factors of 1.7, whereas the fmussel-rock of γ-HBCD was smaller than fsw by factors of 16, indicating the bioisomerization from γ-to α-HBCD. The relatively constant concentration ratio of β-HBCD to the total HBCDs indicated that β-HBCD is a sufficient tracer for determining the diffusive flux. The fsed values of HBCDs were greater than fsw by factors of 17–28, implying a probable advective vertical flow of HBCDs from the EPS plastics, which requires further investigation.
AB - Abundant use of plastic materials has increased the amount of microplastics (MPs) and related hazardous chemicals in the marine environment. Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), brominated flame retardants added to expanded polystyrene (EPS), have been detected in biotic and abiotic samples. In this study, the partition constants of HBCDs between plastics and seawater (KPsw) were determined. Fugacities of HBCDs in EPS, seawater, sediment, and mussels were obtained to determine the directions of the diffusive flux. The fugacities in EPS (fEPS) were greater than those in seawater (fsw), sediment (fsed), and mussels (fswmussel-EPS and fmussel-rock) by three orders of magnitude, indicating that EPS plastics are a significant source of HBCDs. The fmussel-rock of α-HBCD in rock mussels was greater than fsw by factors of 1.7, whereas the fmussel-rock of γ-HBCD was smaller than fsw by factors of 16, indicating the bioisomerization from γ-to α-HBCD. The relatively constant concentration ratio of β-HBCD to the total HBCDs indicated that β-HBCD is a sufficient tracer for determining the diffusive flux. The fsed values of HBCDs were greater than fsw by factors of 17–28, implying a probable advective vertical flow of HBCDs from the EPS plastics, which requires further investigation.
KW - Expanded polystyrene
KW - Fugacity
KW - Hexachlorocyclododecanes
KW - Partition constants
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106867619&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117461
DO - 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117461
M3 - Article
C2 - 34058444
AN - SCOPUS:85106867619
SN - 0269-7491
VL - 286
JO - Environmental Pollution
JF - Environmental Pollution
M1 - 117461
ER -
