Concentration, Distribution and Biomagnification of Novel Brominated Flame Retardant in Grassland Food Chain and Sheep from Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract

Novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) have been of great concern in the past few years due to their ubiquity in the environment and potential bioconcentration characteristics. This study takes Xilingol grassland in Inner Mongolia as the research area to analyze the pollution characteristics of NBFRs (pTBX, HBB, PBT, PBBz, and PBEB) in the grassland food chain. pTBX was more likely to be biomagnified in the food chain of amphibians, reptiles, and birds, whereas PBT and HBB were more likely to be biomagnified in the food chain of mammals. This may be because these animals have different diets and metabolic patterns. According to the concentration distribution of NBFRs in sheep organs and tissues, PBT, HBB, and PBBz easy bioaccumulated in sheep. The biomagnification effect of sheep adipose tissue and internal organs on NBFRs was inconsistent, so the biomagnification of chemicals in organisms cannot be determined only by the biomagnification of adipose tissue.