Recent research has demonstrated the presence of restricted Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in items such as childrens? toys and food contact articles. As the presence of these contaminants in such items serves no useful purpose, they are thought to originate from the use of recycled plastics that were originally treated with BFRs. To address this issue, EU Regulation 850/2004 specifies low POP concentration limit (LPCL) values such that articles containing such BFRs (selected polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD)) at concentrations exceeding the LPCL (1,000 mg/kg) cannot be recycled and must be treated so that the BFR content of such articles is destroyed. Existing LPCLs for PBDEs cover those present in the Penta- and Octa-BDE formulations, but an LPCL for Deca-BDE at a similar concentration is scheduled for implementation from March 2019. Given widespread use of PBDEs and HBCDD in applications like electrical and electronic goods, polystyrene building insulation foam, seating foam and fabrics in homes, offices, and cars; monitoring compliance with LPCLs represents a substantial undertaking, compounded by conventional methods for measuring PBDEs and HBCDD being destructive, time-consuming, expensive, and incompatible with being conducted in situ at waste handling sites. Our principal objective was thus to evaluate the feasibility of using hand-held X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometers to determine bromine in waste articles as a surrogate indicator of exceedance of LPCLs. Of particular concern is the incidence of false positives (where the concentration of bromine but not PBDEs or HBCDD exceeds the LPCL) and false negatives (where the concentration of PBDEs or HBCDD exceeds the LPCL but is not indicated by the bromine concentration recorded by XRF). False positives may occur when a BFR other than a PBDE or HBCDD (e.g. tetrabromobisphenol-A) is present above 1,000 mg/kg. We measured bromine in 769 waste articles and PBDEs and HBCDD in 538 of the same articles collected in Ireland between 2015 and 2016. These articles comprised waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE), polystyrene building insulation, end of life vehicle foams and fabrics, as well as waste carpets, curtains, furniture foams and fabrics. Measurements revealed concentrations of PBDEs and HBCDD exceeded existing LPCLs in 29/538 (5.4%) articles. Anticipating the introduction of an LPCL for Deca-BDE (BDE-209), we found the proportion of articles exceeding either existing LPCLs or the anticipated LPCL of 1,000 mg/kg for BDE-209 was 8.7 % (47/538). By comparison, false positives numbered 52 (9.7 %) when existing LPCLs only were considered, reducing to 34 (6.3 %) when the anticipated LPCL for BDE-209 was accounted for. No false negatives were detected. Based on our data, enforcement of existing LPCLs would prevent 97.9% of the estimated 17,721 kg/year of HBCDD, Penta- and Octa-BDEs generated currently in Ireland, as well as 13.0% of the 15,284 kg/year of BDE-209 generated from being recycled. Enforcement of an LPCL of 1,000 mg/kg for BDE-209, would prevent recycling of 98.1% of the 33,004 kg/year of PBDEs and HBCDD currently generated in Ireland. While false positives will lead to some articles being incorrectly prevented from being recycled, the absence of false negatives in this study, combined with the cost- and time-effectiveness of hand-held XRF relative to conventional methods for measuring PBDEs and HBCDD, renders hand-held XRF potentially feasible for large-scale monitoring of LPCL compliance. Despite this, use of hand-held XRF to screen individual waste articles may still be considered overly time-consuming by waste treatment professionals. Consequently, automation of the screening process using a ?fixed/bench-top? XRF instrument in conjunction with a conveyor belt carrying waste articles, is considered a feasible approach for large-scale waste handling operations ? albeit one requiring greater capital outlay. Short-term, approaches to minimise the number of articles requiring checking for compliance with LPCL values merit consideration. These involve using data from this project that show very low BFR concentrations and no exceedances of current or anticipated LPCLs for some waste categories such as extruded polystyrene (XPS) building insulation foam. On-site separation of XPS from expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam (for which 35 % of samples were found to exceed the LPCL for HBCDD), to allow recycling or reuse of XPS without checking for LPCL compliance would reduce the monitoring burden placed on the waste management industry.

Go back to top of page Top

Go back to top of page Top

Please Read Carefully Before Downloading

It is important for the EPA and the Environmental Research Community to know that the data and information products we distribute are useful to the user community we support. One way of doing this is by tracking the use of data and information in publications. Parts of or all of the datasets, data, or digital information products available here can be freely downloaded for further use in scientific applications under the condition that the source will be properly quoted in published papers, journals, websites, presentations, books, etc. Whenever possible the EPA strongly urge you to cite the use of these data, information, and web resources in the reference section of your publications. For convenience an automatically generated citation is available below which can be used immediately for citation purposes.

EPA SAFER Data Download Disclaimer: Before downloading any of the data or information objects below you are kindly asked to read the data download disclaimer Read Disclaimer (Opens in New Window). Downloading data or information objects from SAFER-Data indicates an acceptance of the data download disclaimer and the conditions outlined within it.

Suggested Citation Information

The information supplied in the table below should be provided with all citations to this electronic resource. You are requested to format each of the fields below as required by the specific bibliographical style you are using.

An example of this citation in proper usage:

Harrad, S.   "EVALUATION OF HAND-HELD XRF FOR SCREENING WASTE ARTICLES FOR EXCEEDANCES OF LIMIT VALUES FOR BROMINATED FLAME RETARDANTS (WAFER)". Associated datasets and digitial information objects connected to this resource are available at: Secure Archive For Environmental Research Data (SAFER) managed by Environmental Protection Agency Ireland https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/resource?id=0d00d379-0762-11e9-96ff-005056ae0019 (Last Accessed: 2025-01-24)

Permalink

Go back to top of page Top

SAFER-Data Display URL	https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/iso19115/display?isoID=3164
Resource Keywords	Waste plastics, brominated flame retardants, recycling,x-ray fluorescence
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Code	2014-RE-MS-2
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Theme	Waste and Resource Management
Resource Availability:	Public-Open
Limitations on the use of this Resource	NONE
Number of Attached Files (Publicly and Openly Available for Download):	2
Project Start Date	Monday 2nd February 2015 (02-02-2015)
Earliest Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Monday 2nd February 2015 (02-02-2015)
Most Recent Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Monday 31st July 2017 (31-07-2017)
Published on SAFER	Monday 24th December 2018 (24-12-2018)
Date of Last Edit	Monday 24th December 2018 at 10:00:59 (24-12-2018)
Datasets or Files Updated On	Monday 24th December 2018 at 10:00:59 (24-12-2018)

Go back to top of page Top

Description of Geographical Characteristics of This Project or Dataset
Data collected from waste sites at various locations across Ireland.

Go back to top of page Top

In this section some supplementary information about this resource is outlined. Lineage information helps us to understand why this project was carried out, what policy or research requirements did it fulfil, etc. Lineage is important in understanding the rationale behind the carrying out of a project or the collection of a specific dataset etc. Links to web sites, applications, papers, etc are outlined to provide you with additional information or supplementary reading about the project or dataset

Any links supplied by the resource owner are stored such that they will open in a new window. Following such a link may lead to a 3rd party website over which EPA has no control in regards to contents or suitability.

Go back to top of page Top

The following is a list of similiar projects and resources on SAFER. Usually these resources share a similiar thematic area to the resource EVALUATION OF HAND-HELD XRF FOR SCREENING WASTE ARTICLES FOR EXCEEDANCES OF LIMIT VALUES FOR BROMINATED FLAME RETARDANTS (WAFER) you are currently viewing. You can view the full description for these projects and resources by using the links supplied.

• Literature Review on the Availability of Nitrogen from Compost in Relation to the Nitrate Regulations View Full Metadata Description
• Environmental Technology: Development of an Alum Sludge-Based Constructed Wetland System for Improving Organic Matter and Nutrients Removal in High-Strength Wastewater View Full Metadata Description
• Novel Passive Sampling Materials for the Screening of Priority Pollutants View Full Metadata Description
• Review of Waste/Resource Exchange Systems leading to Good Practice Guide View Full Metadata Description
• The role of incentivisation in the development of biomethane production, using anaerobic digestion (AD). View Full Metadata Description

Go back to top of page Top