*Current Affiliation

ow nloaded from 2 The congener profiles of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in human and wildlife samples are dominated by brominated diphyenyl ether (BDE) congeners 47, 99, 100, 153, and 154; all of which are components of the commercial pentaBDE mixtures commonly used in a variety of flammable consumer products. Very little information is available on the toxicokinetics of these congeners and no studies are available directly comparing these BDE congeners in mice. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the distribution, metabolism and excretion of BDEs 47, 99, 100 and 153. Female C57BL/6 mice were administered a single dose of BDE (1 mg/kg: 2.1, 1.9, 1.9 and 1.8 µmol/kg, respectively) intravenously. Excretion was monitored daily and terminal tissue disposition was examined five days following exposure. All BDE congeners in this study distribute with similar patterns into lipophilic tissues; however, tissue concentrations fiv