- Record: found
- Abstract: not found
- Article: not found
Dynamics of selected pre-existing polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) in municipal wastewater sludge under anaerobic conditions
March 2010
March 2010
There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Despite the rapid, widespread accumulation of polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs)
in our surroundings, their environmental fate has been largely unknown. In the present
study, most common congeners (BDE 47, 99, 100, 138, 153, 154, 183 and 209) were investigated
for their dynamics in municipal sewage sludge under mesophilic condition (37 degrees
C). In anaerobic batch cultures, the concentrations of BDE 47, 99, 100 and 209, exhibited
significant decreases (by 22-40% from their initial concentration), whereas the levels
of the other congeners, BDE 138, 153, 154 and 183, remained stable during a 238-d
incubation. However, in a parallel study conducted in a pilot-scale anaerobic sludge
digester, loss of all eight congeners was observed. The present study indicates that
certain PBDE congeners undergo a significant mass decrease under anaerobic conditions.