2. ENVIRONMENTAL ChEMISTRy & TEChNOLOGy 2.1. Lectures

Chem. Listy, 102, s265–s1311 (2008) Environmental Chemistry & Technology
novel synthetic procedures have been recently developed.
One of the most significant developed procedures uses
2,5-dibromo-4-fluoronitrobenzene as a precursor to produce
congeners 153 and 154 or employs a modified Sinaki reaction
to prepare congener 81.
I n d u s t r i a l U s e o f P B D E s
DekabDE
This compound is extensively used in “high-impact”
polystyrenes, thermoplastic polyester resins, acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene
rubber, nylon, PVC, and elastomers. BDE
209 is also widely used in isolation materials for electric
cables. There is a large number of commercial products based
on BDE 209 such as widely used Bromkal 81, DE 83, FR-
1210, Chemflam 011, Hexcel PF1.
OktabDE
OktaBDE congeners are mainly used in computer components
and the components of office instruments. Furthermore,
they are also known to be used in various thermoplastics,
adhesives and coating compositions. Bromkal 79-8 DE,
FR 143, Tardex 80, etc. are commercial names of widely used
mixtures.
HexabDE
HexaBDE together with pentaBDE congeners are contained
in commercial mixtures (for example BR 33 A).
PentabDE
Commercial mixtures are used as additives in epoxyresins,
phenol resins, and textiles. This particularly applies to
DE 71, FR 1205/1210, Bromkal 70, Bromkal 61. The Bromkal
70-5 DE mixture (34 % tetraBDE, 60 % pentaBDE and
6 % hexaBDE) was widely used in the past.
TetrabDE
TetraBDE congeners have identical applications as pen-
Table I
Polychlorinated biphenyls in needles
s329
taBDE. The average levels of congeners in the commercially
used mixture are as follows: 41 % of tetraBDE congeners,
45 % pentaBDE congeners, 6 % hexaBDE congeners, and
about 8 % of PBDE of unknown structure. Some groups of
BDEs are not produced individually but occur as impurities in
commercial mixtures (for example nonaBDE or heptaBDE).
The least brominated classes of congeners such as triBDE,
diBDE, and monoBDE, are neither produced commercially,
nor used otherwise.
General use of bDEs
More than one half of PBDEs is used in the production
of electric and electronic devices and components, with
DekaBDE, OktaBDE and PentaBDE being used most widely,
as mentioned above. The highest levels of PBDEs occur
in domestic appliances. The reason is that the devices of this
kind (TV sets, vacuum cleaners) contain the highest portion
of plastics, as compared to other above-mentioned classes of
devices, with fire retardants being usually bound to such plastic
materials.
Experimental
Samples were taken in several locations. Organochlorine
pesticides (DDT and its metabolites, γ-HCH and HCB),
polychlorobiphenyls (PCB) and polybromodiphenylethers
(PBDE) were selected for analysis. The isolation of tracked
analytes from plant matrices was performed by the means
of extraction processes, namely via sonication and Soxhlet
extraction, extract purification was realized by column
chromatography. The final determination was performed by
gas chromatography with μECD detection and the confirmation
analyses by gas chromatography and mass spectrometric
detection.The procedure is summarized in following
Scheme 1.
Concentration [ng g –1 ]
CB 28 CB 52 CB 101 CB 118 CB 138 CB 153 CB 180
Pine 0.25 0.10 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.07 –
Fir 0.33 0.12 0.09 0.10 0.07 0.12 0.05
Blue Spruce 0.30 0.09 0.07 0.08 0.10 0.09 0.04
Table II
Organochlorinated pesticides in needles
Concentration [ng g –1 ]
4,4’-DDT 4,4’-DDE 4,4’-DDD 2,4’-DDT 2,4’-DDE 2,4’-DDD γ-HCH HCB
Pine 0.08 0.17 < LOQ < LOQ nD nD 0.15 0.15
Fir 0.21 0.24 0.07 0.14 < LOQ nD 0.12 0.09
Blue Spruce 0.11 0.11 0.04 0.11 nD nD 0.13 < LOQ