Estimated PBDE and PBB Congeners in soil from an electronics waste disposal site

This study estimated PBDE and PBB congener emissions into the environment from three different e-waste disposal sites that consisted of rude broilers (RB), acid baths (AB) and end-up dumps (ED). Different PBDE and PBB congener profiles were analyzed, and some of their emission sources were discussed. For the examined sites, the levels of SigmaPBB and SigmaPBDE were highest at ED (SigmaPBB 1943.86 ng/g, dw; SigmaPBDE 990.87 ng/g, dw), followed by RB (SigmaPBB 704.58 ng/g, dw; SigmaPBDE 799.27 ng/g, dw) and finally AB (SigmaPBB 108.78 ng/g, dw; SigmaPBDE 171.18 ng/g, dw). PBE-209 (AB 48.67 ng/g, 28.43%; RB 160.23 ng/g, 20.05%; ED 234.12 ng/g, 23.63%) and PBE-203 (AB 51.23 ng/g, 29.93%; RB 130.34 ng/g, 16.31%; ED 93.41 ng/g, 9.43%) exhibited the highest concentrations when compared to the other congeners. Furthermore, high levels of deca-BDE (BDE-209) were observed in AB (48.67 ng/g, 28.43%) and RB sites (160.23 ng/g, 20.05%), which was in accordance with the large amount of these materials in electronics products in China.