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Published on: June 11, 2016
Brominated Flame Retardants in Sediments of Four Coastal Lagoons of Yucatan, Mexico
I S Valenzuela-Sánchez1, G Gold-Bouchot2, E Hernández-Núñez1,3
1Departamento de Recursos del Mar, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Unidad Merida, Km. 6 Antigua Carretera a Progreso, Cordemex, 97310, Merida, Yucatán, Mexico.
Abstract:
We examined the sediments of four coastal lagoons (Ria Lagartos, Bocas de Dzilam, Laguna de Chelem and Ria Celestun) from the state of Yucatan, Mexico, for three widely used commercial polybrominated diphenyl ethers formulations (penta-, octa- and deca-BDE). The most commonly found congeners in all four lagoons were BDEs 47, 99 and 100 (all in the penta-BDE formulation) and BDE209 (deca-BDE formulation). The greatest variety and highest concentrations of brominated flame retardants were found in Ria Lagartos, which also showed the highest BDE 100 concentration (24.129 ng/g). Hexabromocyclododecane was found in all lagoons, but at lower concentrations than those of the various polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Dispersal routes of these compounds are discussed, such as a ring of sinkholes (cenotes) adjacent to the lagoons. Moreover, electronic waste is a serious problem because municipal landfills have been the primary disposal method for these wastes and therefore represent a reservoir of brominated fire retardants.
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