Electronic waste (e-waste) poses significant environmental and health risks in Thailand due to both domestic production and international imports. A notable portion of this waste is processed in small-scale, community-based workshops, often located in poorer regions, where safety regulations are improperly enforced or entirely ignored. This study focuses on the Kalasin province in Northern Thailand, a region with numerous such workshops, where no comprehensive analysis of exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and dechlorane plus (DP) has been conducted. The study's objective was to quantify these toxic substances in environmental and biological samples to assess its contamination and human health risks. Environmental samples, including soil, dust, sediment, ash, eggs, crabs, snails, fish, and rice, were collected from e-waste processing sites and compared with control areas. Blood samples from e-waste workers and a control group were also analysed. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry operated in negative ion chemical ionization (GC-NCI-MS) was used to quantify PBDEs and DP isomers. Results showed significantly higher concentrations of these toxic compounds in e-waste sites compared to control areas. E-waste workers also had elevated levels of these substances in their blood, suggesting exposure through contaminated dust and food. These findings underscore the severe environmental contamination and health risks associated with improper e-waste management, highlighting the urgent need for regulatory measures and improved recycling practices to safeguard both environmental and public health.
- MeSH
- Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated * analysis blood MeSH
- Electronic Waste * analysis MeSH
- Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers * analysis toxicity blood MeSH
- Risk Assessment MeSH
- Environmental Pollutants analysis blood MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Polycyclic Compounds * analysis MeSH
- Dust analysis MeSH
- Occupational Exposure analysis MeSH
- Recycling * MeSH
- Environmental Exposure adverse effects analysis MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Thailand MeSH
The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence and bioaccumulation of new flame retardants (nBFRs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and dechlorane plus (DDC-CO) in the marine environment close to an Arctic community. Passive sampling of air and water and grab sampling of sediment and amphipods was used to obtain samples to study long-range transport versus local contributions for regulated and emerging flame retardants in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. BDE-47 and -99, α- and β-tetrabromoethylcyclohexane (DBE-DBCH), syn- and anti-dechlorane plus (DDC-CO) were detected in all investigated matrices and the DDC-COss at higher concentrations in the air than reported from other remote Arctic areas. Water concentrations of ΣDDC-COSs were low (3 pg/L) and comparable to recent Arctic studies. ΣnBFR was 37 pg/L in the water samples while ΣPBDE was 3 pg/L. In biota, ΣDDC-COSs dominated (218 pg/g ww) followed by ΣnBFR (95 pg/g ww) and ΣPBDEs (45 pg/g ww). When compared with other areas and their relative distribution patterns, contributions from local sources of the analysed compounds cannot be ruled out. This should be taken into account when assessing long-range transport of nBFRs and DDC-COs to the Arctic. High concentrations of PBDEs in the sediment indicate that they might originate from a small, local source, while the results for some of the more volatile compounds such as hexabromobenzene (HBBz) suggest long-range transport to be more important than local sources. We recommend that local sources of flame retardants in remote areas receive more attention in the future.
- MeSH
- Amphipoda MeSH
- Bromobenzenes analysis MeSH
- Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated analysis MeSH
- Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers analysis MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Polycyclic Compounds analysis MeSH
- Flame Retardants analysis MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Arctic Regions MeSH
- Svalbard MeSH
Hydrophobic organic contaminants in soils may pose toxicity or transfer to food chains after their uptake to soil biota. However, uptake data for earthworms are usually limited, as: (a) only fixed exposure times are studied instead of whole uptake kinetics and (b) studies including compounds with different environmental properties and more than two soils of different properties are quite rare. In our study, five persistent organic pollutants (phenanthrene, pyrene, lindane, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (p,p'-DDT), and polychlorinated biphenyl congener No. 153 (PCB 153)) were added to six soils of a wide range of soil properties. Detailed kinetics of uptake to earthworms Eisenia fetida were measured. Results indicated that an equilibrium of concentrations for p,p'-DDT and PCB 153 was reached after 11 days of exposure in all soils. Uptake of phenanthrene, pyrene, and lindane was strongly influenced by the decrease in concentrations in the soils, resulting in peak-shaped accumulation curves. Only in soils with the highest total organic carbon content (7.9 and 20.2%), the equilibrium of lindane concentrations was achieved (after 17 and 5 days of exposure, respectively). We recommend calculating bioaccumulation factors as a ratio of the uptake and elimination rate constants to precise the risk assessment.
- MeSH
- DDT chemistry metabolism MeSH
- Hexachlorocyclohexane chemistry metabolism MeSH
- Insecticides chemistry metabolism MeSH
- Kinetics MeSH
- Soil Pollutants chemistry metabolism MeSH
- Environmental Pollutants chemistry metabolism MeSH
- Oligochaeta metabolism MeSH
- Organic Chemicals chemistry metabolism MeSH
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls chemistry metabolism MeSH
- Polycyclic Compounds analysis MeSH
- Soil chemistry MeSH
- Models, Statistical MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
In this study, levels of several groups of environmental contaminants represented by PAHs, PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and polybrominated diphenyl ethers were determined in various types of canned smoked and non-smoked fish and seafood products (54 samples) obtained from the Czech market. PAHs were detected in all of the studied samples, and at least one of the target halogenated persistent organic pollutants was present above the LOQ in 85% of the samples. The levels of PAHs, PCBs, organochlorine pesticides (mainly DDTs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers found in the canned products varied in the range of 1.4-116 µg kg(-1), 0.6-59.6 µg kg(-1), 0.6-82.7 µg kg(-1) and 0.1-2.1 µg kg(-1) can content, respectively. Smoked sprats were the most contaminated fish product (n = 12) in which the highest levels of both PAHs and persistent organic pollutants were found. In 67% of the samples of smoked sprats in oil, the level of benzo[a]pyrene exceeded the maximum level of 5 µg kg(-1) established for smoked fish by European Union legislation. The distribution of target analytes between oil and fish fractions was also assessed. Significantly higher levels of PAHs were measured in the oil fraction.
- MeSH
- Halogens analysis MeSH
- Environmental Pollutants analysis MeSH
- Polycyclic Compounds analysis MeSH
- Seafood analysis MeSH
- Reference Standards MeSH
- Quality Control MeSH
- Fish Products analysis MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
Some studies suggest that genotoxic effects of combustion-related aerosols are induced by carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (c-PAHs) and their derivatives, which are part of the organic fraction of the particulate matter (PM) in ambient air. The proportion of the organic fraction in PM is known to vary with particle size. The ultrafine fraction is hypothesized to be the most important carrier of c-PAHs, since it possesses the highest specific surface area of PM. To test this hypothesis, the distribution of c-PAHs in organic extracts (EOMs) was compared for four size fractions of ambient-air aerosols: coarse (1
Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with pure carbon dioxide was used to obtain desorption curves of PAHs from four contaminated industrial soils. Total PAH concentrations ranged from 1495 to 2439 mg/kg. The desorption curves were fitted with a simple two-site model to determine the rapidly released fraction (F) representing bioavailability of PAHs. The Fdata obtained under various SFE pressures were compared with degradation results of a composting method applied on the soils. After composting and consequent long-term maturation, the residual PAH contaminations ranged from 4 to 36% of the original values. A possible explanation of the result variations is the different bioavailability of the pollutants. The best correlations between degradation results and F fraction were obtained applying 50 degrees C and 300 bar. The F values gave very good agreement with degradation efficiencies and the total regression coefficients (r) ranged from 0.81 to 0.99. The degradation results together with bioavailable fractions appeared to be consistentwith organic carbon contents in the soils and with volatile fractions of organics. The results indicate that SFE could be a rapid testto predict bioremediation results of composting of PAH-contaminated soils.
- MeSH
- Benzofurans analysis toxicity MeSH
- Water Pollution, Chemical MeSH
- Mice MeSH
- Tumor Cells, Cultured MeSH
- Liver Neoplasms pathology MeSH
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls analysis isolation & purification toxicity MeSH
- Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins analogs & derivatives analysis toxicity MeSH
- Polycyclic Compounds analysis isolation & purification toxicity MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Mice MeSH
- Animals MeSH
