Brominated Flame Retardants and Dechlorane Plus in the Marine Atmosphere from Southeast Asia toward Antarctica

Abstract

The occurrence, distribution, and temperature dependence in the marine atmosphere of several alternative brominated flame retardants (BFRs), Dechlorane Plus (DP) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were investigated during a sampling cruise from the East Indian Archipelago toward the Indian Ocean and further to the Southern Ocean. Elevated concentrations were observed over the East Indian Archipelago, especially of the non-PBDE BFR hexabromobenzene (HBB) with concentrations up to 26 pg m–3 which were found to be related to continental air masses from the East Indian Archipelago. Other alternative BFRs— pentabromotoulene (PBT), pentabromobenzene (PBBz), and 2,3-dibromopropyl-2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether (DPTE)—were elevated, too, with concentrations up to 2.8, 4.3, and 2.3 pg m–3, respectively. DP was detected from 0.26 to 11 pg m–3 and bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-tetrabromophthalate (TBPH) ranged from not detected (nd) to 2.8 pg m–3, respectively. PBDEs ranged from nd to 6.6 pg m–3 (Σ10PBDEs) with the highest individual concentrations for BDE-209. The approach of Clausius–Clapeyron (CC) plots indicates that HBB is dominated by long-range atmospheric transport at lower temperatures over the Indian and Southern Ocean, while volatilization processes and additional atmospheric emissions dominate at higher temperatures. In contrast, BDE-28 and -47 are dominated by long-range transport without fresh emissions over the entire cruise transect and temperature range, indicating limited fresh emissions of the meanwhile classic PBDEs.