Fate and ecological effects of decabromodiphenyl ether in a field lysimeter

Flame-retardant polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are environmental contaminants. Deca-BDE is increasingly used commercially, but little is known about the long-term fate and impact of its major component, decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209), on the soil environment. In this study, we investigated the fate and ecological effect of BDE-209 over 4 years in outdoor lysimeters in a field planted with a rice-wheat rotation. BDE-209 and six lower-brominated PBDEs (BDE-28, -47, -99, -153, -154, and -183) were detected in soil layers of the test lysimeter. We calculated an average BDE-209 migration rate of 1.54 mg·m(-2)·yr(-1). In samples collected in May 2008, November 2008, November 2009, November 2010, and November 2011, 95.5%, 94.3%, 108.1%, 33.8%, and 35.5% of the spiked BDE-209 were recovered, respectively. We predicted the major pathway for debromination of BDE-209 in soil to be: BDE-209→BDE-183→BDE-153/BDE-154→BDE-99→BDE-47→BDE-28. In plants, BDE-209 and seven lower-brominated PBDEs (BDE-28, -47, -99, -100, -153, -154, and -183) were detected. BDE-100 was mainly derived from the debromination of BDE-154 in plants, but sources of other lower-brominated PBDEs were still difficult to determine. In soils containing BDE-209 for 4 years, soil urease activity increased, and soil protease activity slightly decreased. Our results provide important insights for understanding the behavior of BDE-209 in agricultural soils.