Occurrence, distribution and risk assessment of organophosphate ester flame retardants and plasticizers in surface seawater of the West Pacific

• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112691
• Publication Date: 2021-07-02T11:08:57Z
• Authors: Kaiyan Xiao; Zhibo Lu; Chao Yang; Song Zhao; Hongyuan Zheng; Yuan Gao; Chalapan Kaluwin; Yanguang Liu; Minghong Cai
• Keywords: China; 0211 other engineering and technologies; Esters; 02 engineering and technology; 16. Peace & justice; Risk Assessment; Organophosphates; Plasticizers; 13. Climate action; Humans; Seawater; 14. Life underwater; Environmental Monitoring; Flame Retardants

Twenty-eight samples of surface seawater were collected from the West Pacific Ocean during 2019 using a high-volume solid-phase extraction with high-throughput organic analysis (Hi-throat/Hi-volume SPE) method, and concentrations of 10 organophosphate ester flame retardants and plasticizers (OPEs) were determined. The total OPE concentration in the samples was 3.02-48.4 ng L-1 (mean 25.0 ± 10.5 ng L-1), with tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) being the largest contributor. Cluster analysis results showed off-shore input from the coast of East and Southeast Asia was an important source of these chemicals. Tri-p-tolyl phosphate (TpTP) should also be considered for long-term monitoring, because of its high detection frequency. Results of a risk assessment indicated low ecological risk to species in the West Pacific Ocean for TPhP and ΣOPEs. Hazard quotients (HQs) were all <1, indicating that the health risk to humans from these chemicals was at acceptable levels.