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Updated: Nov 29, 2025
Characterization, Quantification and Compound-specific Isotopic Analysis of Pyrogenic Carbon Using Benzene Polycarboxylic Acids BPCA
Published on: May 16, 2016
Observable carbon isotope fractionation in the photodegradation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers by simulated
Zihe Ren1, Yanhong Zeng2, Xiaojun Luo2
1State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, People's Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
In the present study, carbon isotope effects were investigated during the photodegradation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) by compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA). Five PBDE congeners (BDE 85, 99, 100, 153 and 154) in n-hexane were individually exposed to simulated sunlight for as long as 15 h, except for BDE 100 (24 h). Consecutive debromination of PBDE by photolysis in n-hexane was confirmed by the clear 13C enrichment of mother congeners and successive depletion of δ13C values for the photodegradation products with decreasing degree of bromination, which can be attributed to mass-dependent isotope fractionation. The observed variation in the isotope fractionation trends for the para-debrominated products might be linked to the different photocatalytic activities of the PBDE congeners. Higher fractionation was observed for penta-BDEs (εc=-2.2 ± 0.45‰ and -2.3 ± 0.26‰ for BDE 85 and BDE 99, respectively) compared to that for hexa-BDEs (εc=-1.7 ± 0.41‰, and -1.3 ± 0.12‰ for BDE 153 and BDE 154, respectively). Normal isotope effects (AKIE > 1) observed in our study supports the utility of CSIA for the evaluation of the photodegradation of PBDEs.
