A Comparison of Concentrations and Congener Patterns of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Seasonally Sampled Outdoor Air from a Farmland Area in Guangzhou, South China

摘要

To investigate the concentration and congener patterns of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) in outdoor air from farmland area, air samples were collected using passive and active sample methods from April to November 2012, in an e-waste dismantling town in the Guangzhou region of South China. The sum of gaseous and particulate PBDE concentrations averaged 74.26 pg/m(3) and ranged between 3.24 and 247.30 pg/m(3), while the mean gaseous and particulate PBDEs were 19.20 and 55.07 pg/m(3), respectively. The PBDE level was comparable to those in urban air of non-electric waste areas, but much lower than those in both indoor and outdoor air of e-waste dismantling workshop area. Dominant congeners were BDE-47 and BDE-28 for the gaseous phase and BDE-209 and BDE-99 for the particulate phase. Relationship analysis showed that soil PBDEs were more significantly correlated with passive samples than with active samples, indicating that passive sample pattern could capture the accumulative effect of the sampling period and better represent the extent of soil contamination.