A retrospective analysis was conducted on air samples that were collected in 2005 under the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) Network around the time period when the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants came into force. Results are presented for several new flame retardants, including hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), which was recently listed under the Convention (2013)....

Introduction Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are a group of compounds that are added to a wide range of products, such as printed circuit boards, computer cases, electronic appliances, automobiles and construction materials to prevent the outbreak of fire. Among them, additive flame retardants like polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) are the focus of cu...

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) have routinely been added to consumer products for several decades in a successful effort to reduce fire-related injury and property damage. Recently, concern for this emerging class of chemicals has risen because of the occurrence of several classes of BFRs in the environment and in human biota. The widespread production and use of BFRs; strong evidence of in...

A high throughout semi-quantification method for screening nearly 900 organic contaminants (OCs) in river sediments has been developed. For most OCs tested, concentrations calculated from the proposed semi-quantification method deviated from actual values by a factor of 4. The overall recovery tests indicated that most OCs can be successfully extracted from sediments with recovery rates from 84...

Spontaneous ignition tests of various forest species were performed with a specifically designed apparatus. The forest species selected: Arbutus andrachne, Cistus incanus, Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis, Cupressus sempervirens, Pistacia lentiscus, Abies cephalonica are very common in the Mediterranean region which is frequently devastated by forest fires. The same tests were performed in the pr...

We report measurements of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and of emerging flame retardants in the plasma of nestling bald eagles sampled from early May to late June of 2005. Concentrations of total PBDEs ranged from 0.35 ng g(-1) ww to 29.3 ng g(-1) ww (average=5.7+/-1.9 ng g(-1) ww). The most abundant congeners were BDE-47, BDE-99, and BDE-100. The fully brominated congener, BDE-209, was detect...

Concentrations of alternative flame retardants and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were analyzed in ringed seal (Phoca hispida) blubber collected across the Canadian Arctic during subsistence hunts between 1998 and 2013. More than 80% of sampled animals were females and juvenile males. The highest mean ΣPBDE concentrations (sum of 13 congeners) were found in seals from Nain (Nunatsiavut)...