TY - JOUR
T1 - Temporal Trends and Suspect Screening of Halogenated Flame Retardants and Their Metabolites in Blubbers of Cetaceans Stranded in Hong Kong Waters during 2013-2020
AU - Wang, Qi
AU - Ruan, Yuefei
AU - Jin, Linjie
AU - Kot, Brian C.W.
AU - Leung, Kenneth Mei Yee
AU - Lam, Paul K.S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
PY - 2023/6/27
Y1 - 2023/6/27
N2 - Halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) are a large class of chemical additives intended to meet flammability safety requirements, and at present, they are ubiquitous in the environment. Herein, we conducted the target analysis and suspect screening of legacy and novel HFRs and their metabolites in the blubber of finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides; n = 70) and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis; n = 35) stranded in Hong Kong, a coastal city in the South China Sea, between 2013 and 2020. The average concentrations of total target HFRs (ΣHFRs) were 6.48 × 103 ± 1.01 × 104 and 1.40 × 104 ± 1.51 × 104 ng/g lipid weight in porpoises and dolphins, respectively. Significant decreasing temporal trends were observed in the concentrations of tetra-/penta-/hexa-bromodiphenyl ethers (tetra-/penta-/hexa-BDEs) in adult porpoises stranded from 2013-2015 to 2016-2020 (p < 0.05), probably because of their phasing out in China. No significant difference was found for the concentrations of decabromodiphenyl ether and hexabromocyclododecane, possibly due to their exemption from the ban in China until 2025 and 2021, respectively. Eight brominated compounds were additionally identified via suspect screening. A positive correlation was found between the concentrations of tetra-BDE and methyl-methoxy-tetra-BDE (Me-MeO-tetra-BDE) (p < 0.05), indicating that the metabolism of tetra-BDE may be a potential source of Me-MeO-tetra-BDE in marine mammals.
AB - Halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) are a large class of chemical additives intended to meet flammability safety requirements, and at present, they are ubiquitous in the environment. Herein, we conducted the target analysis and suspect screening of legacy and novel HFRs and their metabolites in the blubber of finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides; n = 70) and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis; n = 35) stranded in Hong Kong, a coastal city in the South China Sea, between 2013 and 2020. The average concentrations of total target HFRs (ΣHFRs) were 6.48 × 103 ± 1.01 × 104 and 1.40 × 104 ± 1.51 × 104 ng/g lipid weight in porpoises and dolphins, respectively. Significant decreasing temporal trends were observed in the concentrations of tetra-/penta-/hexa-bromodiphenyl ethers (tetra-/penta-/hexa-BDEs) in adult porpoises stranded from 2013-2015 to 2016-2020 (p < 0.05), probably because of their phasing out in China. No significant difference was found for the concentrations of decabromodiphenyl ether and hexabromocyclododecane, possibly due to their exemption from the ban in China until 2025 and 2021, respectively. Eight brominated compounds were additionally identified via suspect screening. A positive correlation was found between the concentrations of tetra-BDE and methyl-methoxy-tetra-BDE (Me-MeO-tetra-BDE) (p < 0.05), indicating that the metabolism of tetra-BDE may be a potential source of Me-MeO-tetra-BDE in marine mammals.
KW - 2,3-dibromopropyl-2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether
KW - Me-MeO-tetra-BDE
KW - biomonitor
KW - high-resolution mass spectrometry
KW - marine mammal
KW - metabolites
KW - polybrominated diphenyl ethers
KW - south china sea
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85163878845&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.3c00684
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.3c00684
M3 - Article
C2 - 37295780
AN - SCOPUS:85163878845
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 57
SP - 9298
EP - 9308
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 25
ER -
