| 1. |
- Malmvärn, Anna, 1966-
(författare)
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Brominated natural products at different trophic levels in the Baltic Sea : Identification of polybrominated dioxins, hydroxylated and methoxylated diphenyl ethers
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Over time, the Baltic Sea has been contaminated by increasing discharges of pollutants from human activities. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have caused toxic effects in wildlife and excess of nutrients have led to eutrophication. Furthermore, there are indications that certain polyhalogenated compounds similar in structure to man-made POPs are produced by the biota present in this sea. In the late 1990’s both methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs) and hydroxylated-PBDEs (OH-PBDEs) were identified in fish and seals living in this environment. OH-PBDEs can originate from metabolism of PBDEs, but both OH- and MeO-PBDEs are also known to be natural products in marine environments. Another group of POPs, the polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PBDDs), are not produced commercially, but are known to be by-products of chemical industry and of the combustion of, e.g., brominated flame retardants (BFRs). In contrast to the OH- and MeO-PBDEs, PBDDs have not previously been shown to be natural products, although certain related compounds have been indicated to have a natural origin.This thesis describes the identification of PBDDs, OH-PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs in algae, blue mussels and fish living in the Baltic Sea. Several of these compounds were also detected in cyanobacteria. Moreover, PBDDs were present in fish, mussels, shrimp and crabs from different regions of the Baltic Sea and from the west coast of Sweden, but not in organisms from freshwater environments. The levels of these compounds in Baltic fish generally exceeded those of their chlorinated analogues. The origin of the PBDDs identified is somewhat unclear, but the high levels present in blue mussels and the pattern of congeners observed indicate natural production. The presence of PBDDs, OH-PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs in fish and shellfish constitutes a potential risk to both humans and wildlife and requires further investigation.
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| 2. |
- Eriksson, Johan, 1956-
(författare)
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Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and Tetrabromobisphenol A : Chemical synthesis, X-ray crystallography and Photochemical degradation
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the 1960s’ several manmade chemicals were detected in the environment, far from their sources. The most well known, and most likely those with the largest impact on the society, were DDT and its related compounds, and PCBs. These anthropogenic compounds were characterised as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Following these POPs, several other chemicals have found their way to the environment. Over the last two decades, brominated flame retardants (BFRs) have become a matter of concern. Among all BFRs being commercially produced, tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are the ones with the largest annual production. TBBPA is a very well defined compound while PBDEs consist of a large number of isomers and homologues (congeners). TBBPA does not seem to accumulate in biota as the PBDEs do, but is still of concern since it is found in e.g. sediments. The PBDEs can reach accumulation levels up in the ppm range. Still there is a lack of basic data for both TBBPA and PBDEs. Hence the present thesis is aimed to fill some of the data gaps by pursuing work on 1) photochemical degradation of TBBPA, some related compounds, and PBDEs; 2) synthesis of PBDE congeners and of TBBPA degradation products and 3) structural identifications of a selected set of BFRs by X-ray crystallography.An apparatus was designed for carrying out photochemical degradation test of chemicals in general but in particular for BFRs. Quantum yield, rate of degradation and to some extent, identification of degradation products were performed on TBBPA, the corresponding chlorinated compound and a number of TBBPA degradation products and on 15 single PBDE congeners. In order to make this work possible all three nonaBDE isomers were synthesised via a reductive pathway applying sodium borohydride as a reducing agent. The three nona-BDEs were all characterised by X-ray crystallography. The results of the photochemical degradation of TBBPA in water show a rapidly degradable compound also at pH’s that are environmentally relevant. Hence it is likely that TBBPA is not transported long distances, when exposed to sunlight, without undergoing photochemical degradation. It is notable that the TBBPA is degraded through cleavage between the two phenol rings. When the method was applied to study quantum yields and rate constants for the reaction of PBDE congeners it is evident that the decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) is rapidly transformed. The reaction rate differ drastically from PBDEs with four or five bromine substituents that have very long half-lives when subjected to UV-light under the same conditions as for BDE-209. Lower brominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated dibenzofurans were identified as PBDE degradation products. The synthesis of PBDEs and of TBBPA degradation products expanded the study as did the X-ray structure identifications.
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| 3. |
- Jörundsdóttir, Hrönn, 1978-
(författare)
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Temporal and spatial trends of organohalogens in guillemot (Uria aalge) from North Western Europe
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Arctic and sub-Arctic region of the North Atlantic is a remote area, also in relations to environmental contaminants, such as POPs, BFRs and last but not least, PFCs. Both the BFRs and PFCs are considered emerging pollutants of significant environmental concern.The main objective of this thesis is to increase the knowledge and understanding of organohalogen compound distribution in the Nordic environment, their occurrence in biota and change over time. The temporal change of environmental contaminants in the Baltic Sea was monitored over the years 1971 to 2001, with emphasis on BCPS. Further, the pollution profile of the Nordic region was investigated by using common guillemot eggs. Further, to investigate a single remote site, Iceland, in more depth, eggs from seven marine bird species were collected and analysed. Both the organohalogen compounds mentioned above and their metabolites were investigated. The study focused also on an inter-species difference in the bird’s capability of metabolising xenobiotics.All environmental pollutants investigated in the Baltic Sea show decreasing levels over the time period investigated. BCPS showed a remarkably small change over time compared to other compounds. These results reinforce the previous findings, indicating the North Atlantic as remote where the concentrations of the organohalogens are lower compared to Europe in general. There are some exceptions however; the concentration of HCB is ubiquitously distributed across the study area. Further, the spatial trends of the PFCs are complicated and differ within the PFC group. When comparing bird species from Iceland, the concentration of organohalogens mainly depends on trophic level, while migration seems to contribute to a lesser extent. There are some similarities in the metabolism between the bird species investigated. However, the guillemot seems to distinguish itself from other marine birds, with a different composition of metabolites, indicating a different metabolic capacity.In conclusion, even human populations living in remote areas need to minimise the release of pollutants to the environment. Long term, well organised, and extensive governmental monitoring programs are highly recommended to follow the quality the environment and to detect any immediate and/or new threats of chemical pollutants.
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| 4. |
- Weiss, Jana, 1973-
(författare)
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Human exposure to persistent organic pollutants : Illustrated by four case studies in Europe
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- An extensive use of chemicals in countless consumer products has resulted in human exposure to several persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Sufficient knowledge about their chemical composition properties and environmental faith is required, to be able to proper risk assess and regulate the substances. Significant data gaps exist regarding knowledge of actual exposure to humans and toxicological effect data.The objective of this thesis was to add human exposure data of a few POPs from four case studies. The analytes discussed in this thesis are polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDDs/PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD).Three European populations were studied. Milk was analysed from a group of women, who were accidentally exposed to high levels of 2,3,7,8-TetraCDD (TCDD) in Seveso, 1976. Still today, twice as high TCDD levels were recorded in the milk, compared to background concentrations. Serum was analysed from mothers and their infants from The Netherlands. Cord serum contained equal amounts of POPs as in mother’s blood, indicating non-hindered placenta transfer. Serum analysed from Swedish men and women with a high fish intake had elevated PCB and PCB metabolite (OH-PCB) levels. Additionally, butter was collected worldwide and shown to be a suitable matrix for dairy product survey of POPs.The exposure levels in the four papers were compared to recently reported exposure levels in Europe. It is indicated in the thesis that the PCDDs/PCDFs and PCBs toxic equivalency (TEQ) levels are of concern, i.e. the ratio between threshold levels for adverse health effects and TEQ exposure levels is lower than requested margin of safety. Average levels of PBDE/HBCDD in the European population are estimated to be of no concern today, but for individuals with intakes at the 95th percentile are the current margins of safety small.
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