Emerging “New” Brominated Flame Retardants in Flame 2462 Retarded Products and the Environment 2009
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Current State of Knowledge and Monitoring requirements EMERGING “NEW” BROMINATED FLAME RETARDANTS IN FLAME 2462 RETARDED PRODUCTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 2009 Current state of knowledge and monitoring requirements - Emerging "new" brominated flame retardants in flame retarded products and the environment (TA-2462/2008) Current State of Knowledge and Monitoring requirements Emerging “new” Brominated flame retardants in flame retarded products and the environment Mikael Harju, Eldbjørg S. Heimstad, Dorte Herzke Torkjel Sandanger, Stefan Posner and Frank Wania 2 Current state of knowledge and monitoring requirements - Emerging "new" brominated flame retardants in flame retarded products and the environment (TA-2462/2008) Preface Brominated flame retardants are a group of chemicals that inhibit combustion. They are extensively used in electrical and electronic equipment, transport equipment, building materials, paint and insulation foams. However, many of the brominated flame retardants have undesirable effects on the environment and on human health. Therefore it is a nationnal target to substantially reduce the release of five prioritized brominated flame retardants before 2010 and completely eliminate the discharge of these five substances before 2020. The overall aim of this study is to perform a review of the current state of the knowledge on emerging “new” brominated flame retardants. This includes the use of the selected substances, environmental levels, data on toxicity and ecotoxicity, potential to biocon- centrate and bioaccumulate in the food web, analytical possibilities, potential for long range transport and their persistence in the environment. Further, this information is used to select compounds that based on the current knowledge can be relevant for further monitoring. The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) has commissioned the environmental research institute NILU (Norway), Swerea IVF (Sweden) and WECC Wania Environ- mental Chemist Corp. (Canada) to perform this study. SFT, Oslo, December 2008 Sigurd Tremoen Director of the Department of Chemicals and Local Environmental Management 3 Current state of knowledge and monitoring requirements - Emerging "new" brominated flame retardants in flame retarded products and the environment (TA-2462/2008) Contents 1. Summary..................................................................................................................... 6 2. Sammendrag............................................................................................................... 8 3. Introduction.............................................................................................................. 10 3.1 Estimated market volumes......................................................................................... 11 3.2 Applications and uses of „new“ flame retardants ...................................................... 11 3.3 Producers and suppliers on the international market ................................................. 16 4. Current knowledge on selected BFRs .................................................................... 18 4.1 Aromatics................................................................................................................... 18 4.1.1 Tetrabromobisphenol A derivatives........................................................................... 18 4.1.2 Monoaromatics .......................................................................................................... 23 4.1.3 Polyaromatics............................................................................................................. 39 4.1.4 Polymers/monomers .................................................................................................. 49 4.1.5 Other...........................................................................................................................54 4.2 Alifatics...................................................................................................................... 62 4.2.1 Alcohols ..................................................................................................................... 62 4.2.2 Halogenated organophosphorous flame retardant...................................................... 68 4.3 Inorganics................................................................................................................... 69 4.4 Concluding remarks ................................................................................................... 71 5. Long range transport potential (LRTP) Assessment of Selected Brominated Flame Retardants..................................................................................................... 73 5.1 Assessment of transport behaviour based on partitioning properties ........................ 73 5.2 Modes of (global) transport behaviour....................................................................... 74 5.3 Arctic Contamination Potential (Wania, 2003;Wania, 2006)..................................... 76 5.4 Arctic Contamination and Bioaccumulation Potential............................................... 76 5.5 Assessment of Transport Behaviour Using the OECD Pov& LRTP Screening Tool ............................................................................................................................82 5.6 Summary of the LRTP Assessment ........................................................................... 83 5.7 Sampling and analysis of new brominated flame retardants...................................... 87 5.8 Introduction................................................................................................................ 87 5.8.1 Test methods for elemental bromine.......................................................................... 87 5.8.2 Analysis methods based upon pyrolysis or thermal desorption................................. 88 5.9 Environmental samples.............................................................................................. 90 5.9.1 Phenolic compounds and aliphatic alcohols .............................................................. 91 5.9.2 Other organic brominated compounds....................................................................... 93 5.10 Screening strategies.................................................................................................... 93 6. Prioritizing of compounds for further environmental monitoring ..................... 94 7. Units and abbreviations........................................................................................... 97 4 Current state of knowledge and monitoring requirements - Emerging "new" brominated flame retardants in flame retarded products and the environment (TA-2462/2008) 8. Appendix I ................................................................................................................ 99 9. Referenses ............................................................................................................... 103 5 Current state of knowledge and monitoring requirements - Emerging "new" brominated flame retardants in flame retarded products and the environment (TA-2462/2008) 1. Summary The potential for these selected BFRs to be subjected to long range transport This report summarises the current state (LRT) was studied. Results showed that of knowledge on types, market volumes, dibrominated styrenes (CAS 31780-26- manufacturers and uses of brominated 4, 125904-11-2), 2,4,6-tribromophenyl flame retardants, with tables containing allyl ether (CAS 3278-89-5) and pentab- currently available data on the applica- romobenzyl acrylate (CAS 59447-55-1) tions, uses, producers and suppliers of - based on their partitioning properties these BFRs. The accumulated knowl- alone - were judged to have the potential edge of their physicochemical proper- to undergo LRT. However, estimated ties, potential health and environmental short atmospheric half life indicates that effects, eg. acute toxicity, ecotoxicity, they are more likely to pose a problem bioaccumulation, degradation and fate, in the near source environment, espe- environmental levels and potential for cially if they should be recalcitrant to long range transport is also summarised. biotransformation. A valid concern is whether pentabromobenzyl acrylate may The report concludes with a summary of form a persistent and potentially bioacc- the current sampling and analysis tech- umulative metabolite. niques and finally the prioritization; giv- ing a table with the selected priority The substances that have partitioning compounds and Appendix I which con- properties that suggests LRT and are tains the information summary of com- predicted to be fairly persistent are the pound specific data and estimated envi- highly brominated monoaromatics, such ronmental properties as a basis for mak- as hexabromobenzene, pentabromoto- ing the priority selection. luene, and pentabromoethylbenzene. The predicted LRT behaviour is compa- Current production volumes for these rable to those of established POPs, al- BFRs are largely unknown and most though these predictions may be over- data available is outdated. The approach estimated because the LRT assessment was to estimate the production volumes does not include the possibility of photo- based on known production volumes for lytic debromination. TBBP-A and PBDEs and HBCDD. We Some of the heavier BFRs, such as estimated the worldwide total volume of Decabromodiphenylethane (CAS 84852- the 21 new flame retardants and other