Bioavailability of classical and novel flame retardants: Effect of fullerene presence

- PBDE, MeO-PBDE and novel FR bioavailability was determined using Tenax extractions.
- Emerging FRs have similar bioavailability to PBDEs, then similar risk to organisms.
- Decrease of bioavailability with TOC and time aged increases were observed.
- Pollutant retention in sediment is favoured by NMs, reducing impact on organisms.

To understand the behavior of some emerging flame retardants (FRs) in the environment, a nonexhaustive extraction using Tenax was applied to study their behavior in aquatic ecosystems. Desorption of 8 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), 8 methoxylated PBDEs, 3 emerging brominated FRs and 6 halogenated norbornenes from sediments spiked in the laboratory was studied. Results showed that emerging FRs have a similar bioavailability than that of legacy FRs, already banned. In addition, some parameters such as sediment total organic carbon (TOC), aging or nanomaterial (NMs) presence in the sediment were modified in order to study their effects on the bioavailability of FRs. Bioavailability increases with a diminution of sediment TOC, while diminishes with an increase of aging. The study of effect of NM presence was performed at three different pH (acidic, neutral and basic), and for the three scenarios, FR bioavailability decreased with NM presence. The retention of pollutants in the sediment seems to be favoured by NM presence, minimizing their impact on living organisms.

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