Abstract
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission has recently released two new Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) for the analysis of brominated flame retardants (BFRs): the freshwater sediment ERM-CC537a and the fish tissue ERM-CE102. The production of these CRMs responds to the need of expanding the offer of quality assurance/quality control tools for the analysis of BFRs in the fields of environmental analysis and food control, especially for compliance purposes. The sediment ERM-CC537a carries certified values for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) diastereoisomers in the μg/kg range (dry mass), while the fish tissue ERM-CE102 is certified for PBDEs in the ng/kg range (wet weight). ERM-CC537a is the first reference material ever available with certified values for α-, β- and γ-HBCDD. The assignment of the certified values was performed via an intercomparison of expert laboratories. The evaluation of the data confirms the improving trend, observed in recent years, regarding the comparability of PBDE measurement results. The relative standard deviation (RSD) among laboratories is slightly better for the fish material (8–11%) compared to the sediment (9–15%), despite lower mass fractions in the biota matrix. The RSD of HBCDD data (17%) reveals that they are more challenging analytes. The average measurement uncertainty declared by the participants is about 30%, but an in-depth analysis of their performance reveals that it should be feasible to reduce the uncertainty budget.
Highlights
Flame retardants are chemical additives used in a large variety of inflammable commercial products, with the purpose of preventing the start and/or slowing the spreadResponsible Editor: Ester Heath Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:59105–59118 long-range atmospheric transport (Okonski et al 2014), bioaccumulation and biomagnification (HELCOM 2018; Ma et al 2013)
The certified values of the Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and HBCDDs in the freshwater sediment ERM-CC537a are in the range of μg/kg except for BDE209 (7.8 mg/kg) and reflect well the levels generally found in similar matrices in the environment regional differences may exist (Law et al 2008; Yogui and Sericano 2009; Hong et al 2010; Ramu et al 2010; Law et al 2014; Rüdel et al 2017)
Joint Research Centre (JRC) Geel enlarged its portfolio of matrix Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) for organic contaminants with the successful certification of the sediment ERM-CC537a and the biota ERM-CE102 for brominated flame retardants, to support the work of environmental monitoring and food control laboratories
Summary
Flame retardants are chemical additives used in a large variety of inflammable commercial products (e.g. electronic equipment, construction materials, furnishings and textiles), with the purpose of preventing the start and/or slowing the spread. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:59105–59118 long-range atmospheric transport (Okonski et al 2014), bioaccumulation and biomagnification (HELCOM 2018; Ma et al 2013). Due to their high octanol-water partition coefficients (log Kow) (Braekevelt et al 2003), they typically adsorb onto suspended and bed sediments and partition into lipids in organisms (Wenning et al 2011; Zegers et al 2003; de Boer et al 2003). Toxic effects in animals have been found for HBCDDs (Guo et al 2019; Lyche et al 2015)
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