Climate change influence on the trends of BFRs in the environment and food

Abstract

Climate change poses new challenges for environmental protection and food safety. With reported consequences including warmer temperatures, melting of Alpine glaciers, higher sea levels, droughts, extreme rainfall events and increased surface UV radiation, concerns about the impact on food contaminants have been raised. While the effects of climate change on POPs were initially expected to have the biggest impact in the arctic region, given the intensity, frequency and spread of extreme weather events, global influence on environmental pollution and food safety is currently anticipated.

Warmer temperatures are expected to enhance the volatilization of POPs and influence their partitioning between soil, sediment, water and atmosphere, enhancing their mobility and their potential for long-range atmospheric transport. Floods and strong winds can cause dilution but also spread of pollutants to wider areas. Limited data are available for the impact of climate change on BFRs levels, trends and toxicity. BFRs are widely used to protect people from fire hazards. Numerous BFR containing products are disposed in landfills where climate change could possibly induce increased leaching and resulting impacts on the food chain. Heat and UV exposure can lead to degradation of novel polymeric BFRs with adverse environmental effects.

Long-term monitoring data are needed for feed, food and environmental compartments in order to evaluate climate change influence, which will also enable the development of prediction models specific for legacy and novel BFRs, for various climate change scenarios. Furthermore, there is a need to promote further discussion in the scientific community for the design of risk management and remediation activities for contaminated areas, in response to potential future conditions as the climate continues to change.