Degradation, Metabolism, and Bound-Residue Formation and Release of Tetrabromobisphenol A in Soil during Sequential Anoxic–Oxic Incubation

Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is one of the most commonly used flame retardants and has become an environmental contaminant worldwide. We studied the fate of 14C-labeled TBBPA in soil under static anoxic (195 days) and sequential anoxic (125 days)–oxic (70 days) conditions. During anoxic incubation, TBBPA dissipated with a half-life of 36 days, yielding four debromination metabolites: bisphenol A (BPA) and mono-, di-, and tribrominated BPA. At the end of anoxic incubation, all four brominated BPAs completely disappeared, leaving BPA (54% of initial TBBPA) as the sole detectable organic metabolite. TBBPA dissipation was accompanied by trace mineralization (