Occurrence of emerging flame retardants from e-waste recycling activities in the northern part of Vietnam

This study investigated the contamination status of 21 emerging flame retardants (FRs) in soils (n = 32) and river sediments (n = 8) from an e-waste recycling (EWR) site in the northern part of Vietnam. Among analyzed FRs, higher levels of decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) (ND–4200 ng/g dw), 1,2-bis-(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE) (ND–350 ng/g dw) and Dechlorane Plus isomers (DPs) (ND–65 ng/g dw) were found in soils near EWR workshops and open burning places. The highest concentrations of DBDPE (20 ng/g dw), BTBPE (5.7 ng/g dw) and DPs (6.7 ng/g dw) were also detected in sediments collected from the middle of the EWR site. The levels decreased concomitantly with increasing distance from the EWR site. These results indicate that these FRs were released to the surrounding environment from improper recycling activities, such as manual dismantling of devices and open burning of e-wastes. Moreover, the estimated daily intakes of those FRs via soil ingestion were approximately ten times higher for children than adults. To our knowledge, this is a first comprehensive study on characterization of soil and sediment contamination by a series of emerging FRs at an EWR site in Vietnam.