Regulated and unregulated halogenated flame retardants in peregrine falcon eggs from Greenland

• Published in: Environmental Science & Technology
• Main Authors: Vorkamp, Katrin, Falk, Knud, Møller, Søren, Riget, Frank Farsø, Sørensen, Peter Borgen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Vandrefalk; Grønland; bromerede flammehæmmere; Citizen science; /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_on_land; SDG 15 - Life on Land; Greenland; Falco peregrinus; peregrine falcon; vandrefalk
• Online Access: https://forskning.ruc.dk/da/publications/ba19d9f2-289e-41f4-89bf-3d5145858f55; https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b04866; https://hdl.handle.net/1800/ba19d9f2-289e-41f4-89bf-3d5145858f55

Median levels of regulated flame retardants, i.e. polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), brominated biphenyl (BB) 153 and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) in 33-48 eggs of peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) from Greenland were 1900, 359 and 5.98 ng/g lipid weight (lw) and generally intermediate to levels in North America and Europe. Unregulated flame retardants had lower median concentrations of 1.06 (2-ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate, EH-TBB), 2.42 (1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)-ethane, BTBPE), 0.52 (2,4,6-tribromophenyl 2,3-dibromopropyl ether, DPTE) and 4.78 (dechlorane plus) ng/g lw. Although these compounds are often considered as replacements for PBDEs, they were also present in eggs from the 1980s. BDE-209 was the only compound with a significant increase (+7.2% annual change) between 1986 and 2014, while BB-153 and DPTE decreased significantly (-8.0 and 2.8% annual change, respectively). Dechlorane plus showed a non-significant increase. Individual birds equipped with light-logging geolocators, confirmed the contaminant exposure over a large geographical area as the birds spend nearly equal time periods in their breeding and wintering grounds in Greenland and Central/South America, respectively, interrupted by 5-6 weeks of migration through North America. Median levels of regulated flame retardants, i.e. polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), brominated biphenyl (BB) 153 and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) in 33-48 eggs of peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) from Greenland were 1900, 359 and 5.98 ng/g lipid weight (lw) and generally intermediate to levels in North America and Europe. Unregulated flame retardants had lower median concentrations of 1.06 (2-ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate, EH-TBB), 2.42 (1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)-ethane, BTBPE), 0.52 (2,4,6-tribromophenyl 2,3-dibromopropyl ether, DPTE) and 4.78 (dechlorane plus) ng/g lw. Although these compounds are often considered as replacements for PBDEs, they were also present in eggs from the 1980s. BDE-209 was the only compound ...