Characterization of brominated flame retardants from e-waste components in China
- College of Civil Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060 (China)
- Macau Environmental Research Institute, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau (China)
- Ningbo Guoke Testing Co., Ltd, Ningbo 315336 (China)
- School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051 (China)
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)
- Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China)
Highlights: • BFRs in housing plastics and PCBs from e-waste recycling enterprises in China were systematically examined. • Both PBDEs and TBBPA were detectable in most samples. • There is an apparent decreasing trend of BFRs from housing plastics and PCBs in China. • BFRs could be transferred into the recycled products those for other purpose use. - Abstract: Many studies show that high levels of many toxic metals and persistent and bio-accumulative chemicals have been found in electronic waste (e-waste) dismantling sites and their surrounding environmental media. Both flame-retardant plastic housing materials and printed circuit boards (PCBs) could be the major contributors. However, relatively little work has focused on the use or content of toxic substances and their changing in scrap housing materials and PCBs from home appliances. This study evaluated the existence of brominated flame retardants (BFRs, including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and Tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA)) in housing plastics and PCBs from home appliances collected from various e-waste recyclers in China. These were then analyzed for the potential migration of BFRs from the e-waste components into their recycled products. The results show that both PBDEs and TBBPA were found with high level in most of e-waste samples, indicating that the widespread use of BFRs in home appliances are entering into the end-of-life stage. For the plastics samples, CRT TVs and LCD monitors should be given priority for the control of BFRs. Regarding PBDEs, the dominant congeners of BDE-209 in the plastics samples contributed 90.72–93.54% to the total concentrations of PBDEs, yet there are large variations for PCBs samples: BDE-28, -47, -99, and -153 were also important congeners compositions, except for BDE-209. Compared with previous studies, the BFRs concentrations in current Chinese e-waste are trending to decline. This study also found that BFRs in housing plastics and PCBs will be transferred into the recycled products with other purpose use, and the new products could have highly enriched capacities for BFRs. The obtained results could be helpful to manage e-waste and their components properly in order to minimize associated environmental and health risks of BFRs, particularly for their further reuse.
- OSTI ID:
- 22742146
- Journal Information:
- Waste Management, Vol. 68; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2017 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0956-053X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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