Summary of historical terrestrial toxicity data for the brominated flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA): effects on soil microorganisms, earthworms, and seedling emergence

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 25; no. 18; pp. 17268 - 17277
• Main Authors: Rothenbacher, Klaus P., Pecquet, Alison M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-06-2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Animals; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bromination; Cucumis sativus; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Emergence; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental effects; Environmental Health; Environmental risk; Environmental science; Flame retardants; Flame Retardants - analysis; Halogenation; Lolium; Microorganisms; Nitrogen; Nitrogen - chemistry; Nitrogen - pharmacology; Oligochaeta - drug effects; Onions; Polybrominated Biphenyls - chemistry; Polybrominated Biphenyls - toxicity; Review Article; Risk assessment; Seedlings; Sewage; Sewage sludge; Soil; Soil microorganisms; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Soils; Soybeans; Terrestrial environments; Tetrabromobisphenol A; Tomatoes; Toxicity; Toxicology; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Worms; Zea mays; Earthworm; Soil; Terrestrial ecotoxicity; Plant toxicity; Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA); 79-94-7
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-2255-0

This article summarizes historical and recent research on the terrestrial toxicology of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Despite its ubiquitous use and presence in the environment, little published data is available to evaluate the terrestrial ecotoxicity of TBBPA. The purposes of this paper are to enable broad access to a series of TBBPA ecotoxicity tests (nitrogen transformation, earthworm survival/reproduction, and seedling emergence/growth) that were conducted in support of regulatory risk assessments, and to summarize available research in the terrestrial toxicity of TBBPA. In these studies, no significant effect of TBBPA on nitrogen transformation was observed up to the highest concentration [1000 mg/kg dry weight (d.w.) soil]. The no-observed-effect concentrations (NOECs) for seedling emergence ranged from 20 to 5000 mg/kg d.w. Sensitivities were soybeans < corn ≈ onion ≈ tomato < ryegrass < cucumber; the most sensitive endpoints being seedling dry weight and height. The 28-day earthworm mortality NOEC was > 4840 mg/kg d.w. The most sensitive terrestrial endpoint was earthworm reproduction with a half maximal effective concentration (EC
50
) of 0.12 mg/kg d.w. soil. Based on this sensitive terrestrial endpoint, the EU derived a predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) for soil of 0.012 mg/kg wet weight soil (EU
2008
). We did not identify a more sensitive/lower point of departure for terrestrial toxicity endpoints in the published literature. On the basis of this PNEC, the EU concluded there was potential risk for environmental effects near TBBPA manufacturing sites, but no additional risk provided that no sewage sludge was applied to agricultural land (EU
2008
).