Review on treatment technologies and toxicological effects of brominated flame retardants in water environment

Bromine based flame retardants(BFRs), as an emerging organic pollutant, are inevitably released into the environment during manufacturing and circulation processes, posing a serious threat to the ecological environment and human health. The current situation of water environmental pollution, the main degradation technologies, and the latest research findings on the toxicological effects of BFRs were reviewed. The distribution of BFRs in the aquatic environment was source-dependent, and the predominant sources encompassed production regions and e-waste recycling and disposal facilities. Currently, BFRs could be detected in aquatic environments such as lakes, rivers, and oceans. The existing degradation technologies mainly included advanced oxidation technology, microbial degradation technology, pyrolysis separation technology, and adsorption technology. Advanced oxidation technology, pyrolysis separation technology, and adsorption technology had fast degradation rates but high costs. Microbial degradation technology had low cost and less pollution, but the degradation was incomplete. BFRs mainly caused damage to organisms by inducing the production of reactive oxygen species, damaging cell membranes, altering biological reactions related to antioxidant defense, and causing neurological damage. In the future, it was still necessary to explore and research on efficient treatment technologies for BFRs and the long-term toxicological effects of low concentration BFRs on organisms, to provide ideas for the development of efficient and economical BFRs degradation technologies and the assessment of ecological environmental risks of BFRs.