Export Balance of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers at the Scale of the Charmoise Watershed (France)

Fire sources in indoor spaces keep increasing, especially because of the growing number of electrical and electronic equipment uses. To reduce the risks of fire, several chemicals, called flame retardants (FRs), are used particularly in brominated compounds (BFRs). Polybrominated biphenylethers (PBDEs) are widely used in industry to prevent fires. These compounds are part of the composition in many consumer products (textiles, electronics, plastics…) in order to reduce their flammability. They have a pronounced structural similarity with thyroid hormones and they are strongly suspected for being responsible of endocrine disruption processes. The pathways of PBDEs to surface waters are multiple: atmospheric inputs, releases of Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP), urban storm-water discharge (USD), leaching or erosion of contaminated soils (atmospheric route or following urban sludge amendments). To identify the relative importance of each source of inputs in PBDE at the level of a peri-urban elemental catchment area, a flow assessment was carried out at the level of the basin of the Charmoise, France.