Analysis and occurrence of emerging brominated flame retardants in the Llobregat River basin

In response to increasing international regulations on brominated flame retardants (BFR) formulations, alternative additive flame retardants for achieving commercial product fire safety standards are being developed and used. Some of these non-BDE (brominated diphenyl ethers) BFRs are pentabromoethylbenzene (PBEB), hexabromobenzene (hexaBBz), and decabromodiphenylethane (deBDethane). The present study investigated the occurrence of these emerging BFRs, together with 38 BDE congeners (from di- to deca-BDE) in sediments sampled from different points along Llobregat basin (Spain) in three different sampling campaigns between 2005 and 2006. Emerging BFRs were detected in all sediment samples analyzed, at concentrations ranging from 3.1 to 9.6 ng/g for PBEB, from 0.4 to 2.4 ng/g for hexaBBz and from 4.8 to 23 ng/g for deBDethane. These levels are lower than concentrations obtained for PBDEs (from nd to 82 ng/g).