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Time Trends of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) in Antarctic Biota
Citation:
Markham, E., E. Brault, M. Khairy, A. Robuck, M. Goebel, M. Cantwell, R. Dickhut, AND R. Lohmann. Time Trends of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) in Antarctic Biota. ACS Omega. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 3(6):6595-6604, (2018).
Impact/Purpose:
Antarctica is one of the most remote places on earth. Even in Antarctica pollutants are found here, moved across the globe by water and air currents. While pollution in Antarctica is lower than other locations on the planet, many chemicals have found their way into the wildlife living here. Older pollutants have been found here as well as newer ones such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) which are used in consumer and industrial products to reduce fire risk. Over 200 samples including algae, fish and fur seal milk were measured for PBDEs. These samples show that there was an increase in concentration over time from 2000-2014 in the samples, while other locations on the earth show decreasing levels. The results indicate the need for continued measurement of PBDEs and other newer chemical pollutants in Antarctica to understand their global movements.
Description:
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are “emerged” contaminants that were produced and used as flame retardants in numerous consumer and industrial applications for decades until banned. They remain ubiquitously present in the environment today. Here, a unique set of >200 biotic samples from the Antarctic was analyzed for PBDEs, including phytoplankton, krill, fish, and fur seal milk, spanning several sampling seasons over 14 years. PBDE-47 and -99 were the dominant congeners determined in all samples, constituting >60% of total PBDEs. A temporal trend was observed for ∑7PBDE concentrations in fur seal milk, where concentrations significantly increased (R2 = 0.57, p < 0.05) over time (2000–2014). Results for krill and phytoplankton also suggested increasing PBDE concentrations over time. Trends of PBDEs in fur seal milk of individual seals sampled 1 or more years apart showed no clear temporal trends. Overall, there was no indication of PBDEs decreasing in Antarctic biota yet, whereas numerous studies have reported decreasing trends in the northern hemisphere. Similar PBDE concentrations in perinatal versus nonperinatal milk implied the importance of local PBDE sources for bioaccumulation. These results indicate the need for continued assessment of contaminant trends, such as PBDEs, and their replacements, in Antarctica.
