Tree bark as a passive air sampler to indicate atmospheric polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in southeastern China

Abstract

The different barks were sampled to discuss the influence of the tree species, trunk circumference, and bark thickness on the accumulation processes of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) from air into the bark. The results of different PBDE concentrations indicated that barks with a thickness of 0-3mm collected from weeping willow, Camphor tree, and Masson pine, the trunk circumferences of which were 100 to 150cm, were better PBDEs passive samplers. Furthermore, tree bark and the corresponding air samples were collected at Anji (AJ), Hangzhou (HZ), Shanghai (SH), and Wenling (WL) to investigate the relationship between the PBDE concentrations in bark and those in air. In addition, the significant correlation (r (2) = 0.906; P < 0.05) indicated that atmospheric PBDEs were the principle source for the accumulation of PBDEs in the barks. In this study, the log K BA (bark-air partition coefficient) of individual PBDE congeners at the four sites were in the range from 5.69 to 6.79. Finally, the total PBDE concentration in WL was 5 to 20 times higher than in the other three cities. The result indicated that crude household workshops contributed a heavy amount of PBDEs pollution to the environment, which had been verified by the spatial distribution of PBDEs levels in barks collected at Wenling (range, 26.53-1317.68ng/g dw). The good correlation between the PBDE concentrations in the barks and the air samples and the variations of the PBDE concentrations in tree barks collected from different sites reflected that the bark could be used as a passive sampler to indicate the atmospheric PBDEs.