Prevalence of tetrabromobisphenol A and its related compounds in an anthropogenic impacted soil-groundwater system: Concern for understudied derivatives

Abstract

Globally, excessive extraction along with environmental pollution pose substantial threats to both the quantity and quality of groundwater. In this study, environmental occurrence and potential risks of bisphenol A (BPA), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), 20 byproducts and transformation products were investigated by UHPLC-Orbitrap-HRMS in the soil-groundwater system of Laizhou Bay, China. The results revealed that the concentrations of the 22 target substances in soil and groundwater were 8.77 × 10⁻¹-1.01 × 10⁴ ng/g dry weight (dw) (average 380 ng/g dw) and not detected (nd)-3.99 × 10⁴ ng/L (average 731 ng/L), respectively. For the groundwater samples, the detection rate of byproducts and transformation products is up to 88 %, and the concentration range is nd-3.98 × 10⁴ ng/L, which exceeds those of the parent compounds, TBBPA and BPA. Byproduct TBBPA mono (allyl ether) (TBBPA-MAE) is the predominant pollutant. Another 9 transformation products were tentatively identified, and commonly found in both matrices (with detection frequencies of >75 %). The risk quotients of 3 transformation products and BPA were greater than 0.1, indicating a moderate or high degree of health risk. This represents the first in-depth investigation of TBBPA and its analogs in the soil-groundwater system within typical halogen industrial areas, highlighting that the associated risks of emerging pollutants to the local environment cannot be overlooked.