Flame retardant emission from e-waste recycling operation in northern Vietnam: Environmental occurrence of emerging organophosphorus esters used as alternatives for PBDEs

Three oligomeric organophosphorus flame retardants (o-PFRs), eight monomeric PFRs (m-PFRs), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were identified and quantified in surface soils and river sediments around the e-waste recycling area in Bui Dau, northern Vietnam. Around the e-waste recycling workshops, 1,3-phenylene bis(diphenyl phosphate) (PBDPP), bisphenol A bis(diphenyl phosphate) (BPA-BDPP), triphenyl phosphate (TPHP), TBBPA, and PBDEs were dominant among the investigated flame retardants (FRs). The respective concentrations of PBDPP, BPA-BDPP, TPHP, TBBPA and the total PBDEs were 6.6–14000ng/g-dry,