Are PBDEs In Marine Sediments From The Coast Of Baja California Mexico Increasing In Time? A Problem Revisited

Abstract

- We report here on the finding for PBDEs in coastal marine sediments in the south end of the Southern California Bight. We propose that there are two main contributors to the distribution of these chemicals in this part of the world for the surface distribution and composition of the PBDEs found. On the one hand, the presence of potential local sources such as wastewater treatment plants and on the other, the energy in the area provided mainly from the currents, the winds and waves for each area (North, Central, and South) and a third component due to the local topography. The range of concentrations for the sum of 14 PBDEs was; from undetected to a maximum of 9.74 ng/g dry weight. Generally, the largest concentrations coincided with samples collected in the deeper sites and located to the north. As previously found, the BDE-209 is predominant congener which indicates the trend given the discontinued commercial use of Penta-BDE and the Octa-BDE mixtures while maintaining still in use the Deca mixture. We also found an apparent increase in concentrations for the sum of these 14 PBDEs analysed as compared to that reported by us in 2013.