PentaBDE in “organic" compost, DecaBDE in Birds

Here are a couple current stories on the flame retardants around us:

1. Significant PBDE levels detected in “organic" compost distributed in San Francisco
2. New review of PBDE contamination in birds

1. Dr. Robert Hale has measured an average total of 731 ppb of PBDEs in sewage sludge-derived "organic" compost which the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has distributed to gardeners since 2007.

The report prepared by Dr. Hale can be found here: http://www.sourcewatch.org/images/2/2f/Compost2010_analysis-5.pdf

The congeners found are those of the PentaBDE mixture, primarily used to treat furniture and baby products to meet California flammability standard TB117. This standard hasn't been shown to reduce fire deaths. This contamination of biosolids or sewage sludge is yet another unintended consequence of TB117.

The Food Rights Network FRN is calling for PUC Commissioners “to stop allowing sludge politics to trump health, environment and the precautionary principle in San Francisco.”

2. A new review in the October 2010 Environment International by Da Chen and Robert Hale, “A global review of polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardant contamination in birds” analyzes the PBDE data available in birds.

The authors found that terrestrial-feeding birds exhibit heightened Deca-BDE contamination and that North American and Chinese terrestrial birds have some of the highest BDE-209 concentrations detected in wildlife.

The authors conclude that continued usage of Deca-BDE around the world has caused the significant increases in BDE-209 burdens that have been observed in both North American and European birds and call for worldwide regulation of Deca-BDE use, the only PBDE formulation remaining in production.

From the Abstract

Birds have long been recognized as invaluable monitoring species for organohalogen contamination. This review summarizes most available PBDE data in birds and emphasizes several specific aspects,

* inter-regional differences in PBDE contamination,
* the extent of BDE- 209 contamination,
* differences in congener composition patterns between piscivorous and terrestrial-feeding
* birds,
* trophic biomagnification
* temporal changes in PBDE contamination.

A meta-analysis of PBDE congener profiles reveals distinctly different patterns between birds utilizing terrestrial and aquatic food webs. Terrestrial feeding birds appear to exhibit heightened Deca-BDE contamination. Inter-regional comparisons reveal elevated PBDE burdens in North American aquatic birds compared to those from the rest of the world, likely related to greater Penta-BDE demand there. Examination of North American and Chinese terrestrial birds also exhibited some of the highest BDE-209 concentrations ever reported inwildlife, and suggested that urban environments in general and some commercial activities (e.g., electronic recycling) may increase exposure ofwildlife and humans to Deca-BDE. Summaries of temporal trend studies suggest that varying usage histories and regulations have influenced PBDE contamination patterns at different regions. As a consequence of continued usage of Deca-BDE around the world, significant increases in BDE-209 burdens have been observed in both North American and European birds. Examination of both wild and laboratory-exposed birds also indicated potential degradation of BDE-209 to less brominated, but more bioavailable/toxic congeners. Therefore, it would be wise to reduce releases of Deca-BDE, the only PBDE formulation remaining in production, to the environment.