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Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in plastic waste of electrical and electronic equipment: a case study in Belarus

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Abstract

Plastic waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) can contain polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) that have been used as fire retardants for a long time. PBDEs were listed in the Stockholm Convention as persistent organic pollutants, so PBDE-containing plastic waste should be separated and disposed of in an ecologically sound manner. In the article, the results of bromine and PBDE content in plastic samples of WEEE collected in Belarus are presented. The screening method for bromine identification and HRGC/HRMS for PBDE identification were applied. It is shown that bromine is present in 43% of the 111 studied samples. Most often, Br-containing plastic was found in CRT monitor, CRT TVs and LCD monitor (about 50%), printers (35%), and LCD TVs (25%). PBDEs were revealed in 12 Br-containing samples, representing TVs, monitors, and printers. The sum of ∑10PBDEs varied from 6.6 to 21,000 μg/kg. BDE-209 dominated in 9 samples (75% of cases); BDE-183, in two; and BDE-47 and BDE-99, in one sample. Based on the low content of PBDEs in the plastic, year of equipment production, and year of restriction of PBDEs applied in the countries-manufacturers, it was concluded that the presence of PBDEs in plastic is a consequence of contaminated waste recycling. Despite the relatively low concentrations of PBDEs (below the limit values established by the Stockholm and Basel conventions for POP wastes), further research is necessary with an extension of the list of analyzed types of equipment and identification of other brominated flame retardants.

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Funding

This work/part of the work was carried out with the support of core facilities of RECETOX research infrastructure, project number LM2015051, funded by the Ministry of education, youth and sports of the Czech Republic under the activity “Projects of major infrastructures for research, development and innovations.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Nature Management, Laboratory of Transboundary Pollution, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Skoriny st., 10, 220076, Minsk, Belarus

    Tamara Kukharchyk & Vladimir Chernyuk

  2. RECETOX Centre, Masaryk University, Kamenice 753/5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Petra Přibylová

Authors
  1. Tamara Kukharchyk
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  2. Petra Přibylová
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  3. Vladimir Chernyuk
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Contributions

Tamara Kukharchyk contributed to the study conception and design. Sampling and sample preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Vladimir Chernyuk. Chemical analytical work and methods description were performed by Petra Přibylová. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Tamara Kukharchyk and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final and revised manuscript.

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Correspondence to Tamara Kukharchyk.

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Kukharchyk, T., Přibylová, P. & Chernyuk, V. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in plastic waste of electrical and electronic equipment: a case study in Belarus. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 32116–32123 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09670-8

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