New Generation Organic Flame Retardants and the Role of Biotransformation in Bioaccumulation in Convergent Food Webs of Top Predator Birds and Fish

在因对环境和人类健康造成令人担忧的影响而受到关注的化学品中，有一种是含有溴和氯的有机阻燃剂(OFR)。OFRs包括一大类不同种类的添加剂和活性物质。为了减少火灾危险，制造商将这些化学物质添加到商业聚合材料中，这些材料用于从家具到纺织品的各种产品。环境研究继续主要集中在生产量大和/或在世界各地的环境隔间中已确定和大量存在的溴代异氟化碳(BFR)，例如多溴二苯醚(PBDEs)。研究提出了对这些BFR导致癌症、荷尔蒙紊乱、神经损伤和其他问题的担忧。然而，随后对多溴二苯醚应用的限制导致了替代和替代的OFR化学品的使用增加。有机磷阻燃剂(OPFR)是一个产量高的很好的例子，并在聚合物中的广泛应用可以追溯到20世纪60年代的S。有机磷阻燃剂的环境研究一般都是缺席的，直到最近才“重新出现”，一些OPFR在室内空气、灰尘、废水和污泥中被报道，尽管对世界各地环境生物群的了解仍然非常有限。环境中已建立的溴代二苯醚(如多溴二苯醚)会降解和/或被生物转化和代谢成其他形式，例如在鱼类、野生动物和人类中，高度溴化的多溴二苯醚失去溴原子和/或多溴二苯醚转化为含羟基的多溴二苯醚。这些多溴二苯醚产品可以在包括人类在内的暴露有机体中持久和生物积累，并可能引起有害影响。拟议的研究将解决对新一代和替换的BFR和OPFR在劳伦斯五大湖的水生和顶级捕食性鸟类和鱼类中的降解/代谢缺乏了解的问题，以及相对于它们汇聚的鱼类猎物和较低的食物网对命运和生物积累的影响。五大湖盆地是数百万加拿大人生活的地方，也是最大的捕食者，很可能暴露在这些新一代的OFR中。

Among the chemicals that get attention for their worrisome effects on the environment and human health are organic flame retardants (OFRs) that contain bromine and chlorine. OFRs comprise a large and diverse class of additive and reactive substances. To mitigate fire hazards, manufacturers put these chemicals into commercial polymeric materials used in everything from furniture to textiles. Environmental studies continue to focus largely on brominated OFRs (BFRs) with high production volumes and/or established and substantial levels in environmental compartments worldwide, e.g., polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Studies have raised concerns about these BFRs in causing cancers, hormonal disruption, neurological impairment and other problems. However, the subsequent restrictions on PBDE applications have resulted in the increased use of alternative and replacement OFR chemicals. Organophosphate FRs (OPFRs) are a good example with high-production volumes, and wide use in polymers dating back to the 1960's. OPFR environmental research was generally absent until recent "re-emergence" with some OPFRs being reported in indoor air, dust, wastewater and sludge, although knowledge for environmental biota worldwide remains extremely limited. Established BFRs in the environment such as PBDEs degrade and/or are biotransformed and metabolized to other forms e.g. highly brominated PBDEs lose bromine atoms and/or PBDEs convert to OH-containing PBDEs in fish, wildlife and humans. These PBDE products can persistent and bioaccumulate in an exposed organism including humans and may elicit deleterious effects. The proposed research will address the lack of understanding of the degradation/metabolism of new generation and replacement BFRs and OPFRs in model aquatic and top predator birds and fish from the Laurentian Great Lakes, and the influence on the fate and bioaccumulation relative to their convergent fish prey and lower food webs. The Great Lakes basin is where millions of Canadians live and also as top predators are likely exposed to these new generation OFRs.