Global and historical emission inventory of BDE-209

A thorough understanding of the fate of chemical in products (CiPs) within and across societies is a prerequisite to understand and predict their environmental fate. The complex processes by which chemicals are released to the environment from production, processing, use and disposal, make the
tracking of CiPs in the anthroposphere a challenging task. In this study, we used a dynamic substance flow analysis model, CiP-CAFE (Chemical in Products-Comprehensive Anthropospheric Fate Estimation), to quantify the global stock and flows of BDE-209 as a chemical mixture and within products over the period of 1970 to 2050. The CiP-CAFE model divides the world into 7 regions according to regional
differences in chemical industries, chemical and waste management practices as well as trade. Each region contains interconnected phases and processes which allow tracking of chemicals and quantification of stocks and flows of CiPs from one stage to the other. In this study, we used the historical production of Br and market demand of flame retardants to estimate the historical production of BDE-209. We estimated that ~1600 Kt of BDE-209 has been
manufactured since 1970. Despite the discontinuation of the use of BDE-209 since 2014, our results suggest that ~400 Kt of BDE-209 is still in in-use stock globally in 2017. A total of ~1120 Kt of BDE-209 has already entered the waste stream with 52% of the total waste remains in landfills and dumping sites while the remainder of waste (48%) has been subject to irreversible waste treatment. The latter
category includes inappropriate waste treatment (40%), incineration (26%), inadvertent recycling (21%)
and wastewater treatment plant (13%). Global emission of BDE-209 from 1970 to 2017 was estimated to be ~80 t with 75%, 2% and 23% of the total emission released to air, water and soil, respectively. According to our estimates, more than 60% of the global emission during the production and use of
BDE209-containing products occurred in more industrialized regions (North America, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand), while more than 80% of emission during waste treatment and disposal of associated products occurred in less industrialized regions. This calls for further research in understating of emissions of harmful chemicals from throughout their entire life-cycles. The CiP-CAFE model provides a comprehensive analysis of the stock, flows and emissions of harmful chemicals that can be used as
valuable tool to devise more effective chemical management plans in order to protect the environment and human health at the global scale.