Phototransformation of Plastic Containing Brominated Flame Retardants: Enhanced Fragmentation and Release of Photoproducts to Water and Air

Increasing attention is being paid to the environmental fate and impact of plastics and their additives under sunlight exposure. We evaluated the photodegradation of polystyrene (PS) films (∼100 μm) containing brominated flame retardants (BFRs): decabromodiphenylether (BDE-209), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), and tetrabromobisphenol A-bis (2.3-dibromopropylether) (TBBPA-DBPE). Irradiations were performed in a solar simulator and outdoors. Infrared (IR) analyses indicated an acceleration of the photooxidation rate of fire-retarded PS films compared to pure PS with an enhancement factor of 7 for TBBPA-DBPE and TBBPA, and 10 for BDE-209. The accelerating effect was found to be correlated with the quantum yield for BFR photodegradation and its absorbance in the PS films. The presence of BFRs also modified the PS photooxidation mechanism and resulted in the formation of 14 brominated photoproducts via bromination and oxidation of PS. Furthermore, a drastic increase in chain scissions and loss of molecular weight was revealed by size exclusion chromatography. This enhanced degradation of PS led to significant leaching (15%) of oxidation products from PS films after immersion in water, and to the gas-phase emission of several volatile brominated products. Our findings suggest that fire-retarded plastics may be a source of potentially hazardous contaminants when exposed to sunlight