Polybrominated flame retardants in sewage sludge and sediments (Review)

This paper is a wide review of literature concerning the presence of flame retardants in sediments, treated wastewater, sewage sludge and the possibilities of their biodegradation. These compounds are widely applied in, for example, the textile and electronics industries. Flame retardants (FRs) are hydrophobic with very low solubility in water; however, they are released slowly during the washing of clothing, and as a result of the discarding of waste electronic products, etc. FRs show low mobility in the environment and can accumulate in wastewater, sewage sludge, in sediments in the beds of rivers and lakes, and in soil. Total concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) ranged from 0.59 to 48.000 ng/g d.w and decaBDE (BDE 209) concentrations from 0.4 to 47,400 ng/g d.w. BDE 209 dominated the congener profile.