| STUDY |
Flame retardant degrades in sun Brominated flame retardants lose bromines in sunlight. Because polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are found in increasing amounts in the environment, a group at Purdue University tested the solar stability of the decabrominated form. Environmental engineers Inez Hua, Chad Jafvert, and coworkers added decabromodiphenyl ether (DBDE) to a mix of water and natural organic matter or to hexane and set the mixtures on a rooftop [Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 22, 798 (2003)]. In both solutions, the DBDE decayed into less brominated species. In the aqueous solution, DBDE decayed more slowly because organic matter also absorbs sunlight, and the products were hard to track. In hexane, all of the DBDE was transformed, mainly into products containing five to eight bromines, within two hours. In 1999, DBDE accounted for about 80% of the PBDEs manufactured worldwide, Jafvert says. Yet PBDEs are found in sediments, water, and wildlife most often as pentabromo- and tetrabromodiphenyl ethers. Whether DBDE is degraded into lighter molecules after it gets into the environment is "the million-dollar question," Hua says |
| UPDATE | 10.03 |
| AUTHOR |
Purdue Uni.'s - Hua Inez & - Jafvert Chad |
| LITERATURE REF. | [Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 22, 798 (2003)]. |
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