Forest filter effect for polybrominated diphenyl ethers in a tropical watershed

Kayon S C Barrett; Foday M Jaward; Amy L Stuart

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109279

Forest filter effect for polybrominated diphenyl ethers in a tropical watershed

J Environ Manage. 2019 Oct 15:248:109279. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109279. Epub 2019 Jul 23.

Authors

Kayon S C Barrett¹, Foday M Jaward², Amy L Stuart³

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Science and Sport, University of Technology, Jamaica, 235 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6, Jamaica. Electronic address: Kayon.Barrett@utech.edu.jm.
² College of Public Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., MDC 056, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. Electronic address: fjaward@health.usf.edu.
³ College of Public Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., MDC 056, Tampa, FL 33612, USA; Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, ENG 030, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. Electronic address: als@usf.edu.

PMID: 31349126
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109279

Abstract

There is limited research characterizing the fates of persistent organic pollutants in tropical multi-use watersheds. This study aimed to evaluate the role of forests in the environmental fates of select polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) for a case study tropical drainage basin, the Rio Cobre watershed. Field samples of deposition, soil, litterfall and the atmosphere of a forest and nearby clearing were analyzed for the presence of the PBDEs (PBDE-28, 47, 99, 100, 153, 154, 183 and 209), which are routinely detected in the environment. The mean air and litterfall concentrations of these PBDEs were generally lower in the forest than in the clearing, whereas the deposition flux rate and soil concentrations were higher in the forest. The results suggest that the forest filtered the PBDEs by transferring them from the atmosphere to the soil, despite the tropical nature of the study site.

Keywords: Environmental fate; Filter effect; Organic pollutants; Tropical forest; Watershed.

MeSH terms

Environmental Monitoring
Forests
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers*
Polybrominated Biphenyls*
Soil

Substances

Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
Polybrominated Biphenyls
Soil