Sludge Watch ==> PBDE Contamination of the Antarctic from US Research Bases

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

I love the use of the term 'inadvertent' as it pertains to this story.
'unintentional, thoughtless, careless, negligent'

Sewage treatment standards need to be improved all over the world.
Sewage is now one of the main, if not the main, source of global 
contamination.

"Inadvertant"....can wastewater operators and experts really consider the 
ghastly contamination from their industry 'inadvertent'?  The pollution of 
the environment from sewage and our 19th century wastewater mentality is 
unconscionable.  There are better technologies, we just don't use them.

............................



http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/86/i05/8605notw1.html


Inadvertent Contamination
Flame retardants are seeping from research bases into Antarctica's pristine 
environment
Sarah Everts

A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION of wastewater sludge and dust samples from U.S. 
and New Zealand research bases in Antarctica reveals unexpectedly high 
concentrations of polluting flame retardants, at levels comparable with 
those in U.S. urban centers.


"I was shocked by the findings," comments Cynthia de Wit, an environmental 
toxicologist at Stockholm University who was not involved with the research. 
"It shows that small communities such as research bases in remote, so-called 
pristine areas can be significant point sources for polybrominated diphenyl 
ethers (PBDEs)."

PBDEs have been used for decades to prevent furniture upholstery, 
electronics, and carpets from catching fire.

Toxicologists worry about accumulation of PBDEs in organisms because the 
molecules are structurally similar to thyroxine, a hormone critical in fetal 
development. Lab experiments also indicate that some PBDEs, namely 
pentabrominated congeners, can interfere with early neurodevelopment.

After measuring high levels of PBDEs in wastewater sludge and dust from two 
Antarctic bases—the U.S.-operated McMurdo base and the New 
Zealand-operated Scott base—Robert C. Hale of the Virginia Institute of 
Marine Science and his colleagues checked whether the pollutants had seeped 
into the local ecosystem. Their preliminary measurements reveal a PBDE 
concentration of 2 ppm in fish and aquatic invertebrates near the bases 
(Environ. Sci. Technol., DOI: 10.1021/es702547a). These levels rival those 
found in fauna near North American cities.

USGS
The Antarctic environment is being contaminated with flame retardants such 
as BDE-99 by research bases, like McMurdo.

Jules Blais, director of the chemical and environmental toxicology program 
at the University of Ottawa, says that he is convinced the measured PBDEs 
near the research bases are derived mainly from local sources, rather than 
from long-range atmospheric transport.

Although U.S. manufacturers agreed to phase out two families of 
bioaccumulative PBDEs, known as penta-BDEs and octa-BDEs, in 2004, 
penta-BDEs such as BDE-99 were the most abundant species in the samples near 
the McMurdo base.

The more than 80 research bases in Antarctica probably haven't updated most 
of their furniture or electronics since 2004, Hale says.

In light of his team's findings, Hale argues that current rules for treating 
wastewater in the Antarctic should be revised. In particular, the Protocol 
on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty does not oblige research 
bases to install wastewater treatment plants on-site. The treaty requires 
large bases to macerate their wastewater sludge prior to discharge so that 
it decomposes faster. But maceration doesn't prevent PBDE release from 
sludge into the environment.


In 2003, the huge, 1,200-person McMurdo base did install a sophisticated 
waste-treatment facility that reduces the release of pollutants, including 
PBDEs. So the bulk of the PBDEs measured was probably released prior to 
2003, Hale says. McMurdo's wastewater treatment system is only one of a few 
in Antarctica. Many other smaller bases still only macerate their biowastes, 
if that, he notes.

Hale worries that other chemicals from personal care products and 
pharmaceuticals, such as estrogens, may also be escaping into the Antarctic 
ecosystem. His team is currently making further measurements of both PBDEs 
and estrogen-like molecules near the research bases.

"It's ironic that our presence in Antarctica, even for the purpose of 
environmental research, can lead to pollution of this very same 
environment," Hale tells C&EN.