PMID- 19100622
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20090407
LR  - 20090309
IS  - 1873-6750 (Electronic)
IS  - 0160-4120 (Linking)
VI  - 35
IP  - 3
DP  - 2009 Apr
TI  - Polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants in the U.S. marine environment: a 
      review.
PG  - 655-66
LID - 10.1016/j.envint.2008.11.001 [doi]
AB  - Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used as flame retardants in polymeric 
      materials such as furnishing foam, rigid plastics and textiles. The U.S. has 
      historically led the world production of these man-made chemicals and was 
      responsible for about 50% of the total global demand in 2001. Paradoxically, 
      scientific studies addressing sources, behavior and fate of PBDEs in the U.S. 
      environment are limited when compared to those in Europe. This paper reviews the 
      distribution of PBDEs in marine and estuarine matrices of the three U.S. coasts 
      (Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico) and Alaska. PBDEs are ubiquitous in all 
      compartments including water, sediment and biota. Contamination is higher in 
      urbanized regions such as the coast of California. In numerous cases, 
      concentrations of PBDEs in U.S. marine matrices are among the highest in the 
      world. Higher PBDE levels in the U.S. marine environment reflect that over 90% of 
      the Penta-BDE global production has been utilized in the United States. BDEs 47, 
      99 and 100 typically dominate the composition of PBDEs in most samples and 
      exhibit high concentrations in several matrices. BDEs 17, 28, 33, 49, 153, 154 
      and 155 are also of concern since they are known to be present in a minor 
      proportion in the Penta-BDE products. BDEs 206, 207, 208 and 209 which occur in 
      Deca-BDE products do not appear to accumulate in most marine organisms although 
      they may be debrominated into more toxic congeners. There is still no regulation 
      addressing PBDEs contamination in the U.S. aquatic environments. Thus, efforts to 
      understand the cycling of PBDEs in the environment as well as toxic effects in 
      organisms are needed to support the development of quality criteria. Some PBDE 
      congeners fulfill the criteria to be recognized as persistent organic pollutants 
      (POPs). The addition of PBDEs to the list of POPs established by the United 
      Nations Stockholm Convention will be important in elevating environmental 
      concerns regarding these chemicals to an appropriate level of awareness.
FAU - Yogui, G T
AU  - Yogui GT
AD  - Geochemical and Environmental Research Group, College of Geosciences, Texas A&M 
      University, 833 Graham Road, College Station, TX 77845, USA. 
      gtyogui@ocean.tamu.edu
FAU - Sericano, J L
AU  - Sericano JL
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PT  - Review
DEP - 20081218
PL  - Netherlands
TA  - Environ Int
JT  - Environment international
JID - 7807270
RN  - 0 (Flame Retardants)
RN  - 0 (Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers)
RN  - 0 (Water Pollutants, Chemical)
SB  - IM
MH  - Biodiversity
MH  - *Environmental Exposure
MH  - Flame Retardants/*analysis
MH  - Geologic Sediments/chemistry
MH  - Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers/*analysis
MH  - Seawater/chemistry
MH  - United States
MH  - Water Pollutants, Chemical/*analysis
MH  - *Water Pollution, Chemical
RF  - 72
EDAT- 2008/12/23 09:00
MHDA- 2009/04/08 09:00
CRDT- 2008/12/23 09:00
PHST- 2008/07/09 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2008/10/26 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2008/11/05 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2008/12/23 09:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2008/12/23 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2009/04/08 09:00 [medline]
AID - S0160-4120(08)00224-9 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.envint.2008.11.001 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Environ Int. 2009 Apr;35(3):655-66. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2008.11.001. Epub 2008 
      Dec 18.