Kinetics of Brominated Flame Retardant (BFR) Releases from Granules of Waste Plastics

Plastic components of e-waste contain high levels of brominated flame retardants (BFRs), whose releases cause environmental and human health concerns. This study characterized the release kinetics of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) from millimeter-sized granules processed from the plastic exteriors of two scrap computer displays at environmentally relevant temperatures. The release rate of a substitute of PBDEs, 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE), from the waste plastics, was reported for the first time. Deca-BDE was the most abundant PBDE congeners in both materials (87–89%), while BTBPE was also present at relatively high contents. The release kinetics of BFRs could be modeled as one-dimensional diffusion, while the temperature dependence of diffusion coefficients was well described by the Arrhenius equation. The diffusion coefficients of BFRs (at 30 °C) in the plastic matrices were estimated to be in the range of 10–27.16 to 10–19.96 m2·s–1, with apparent activation energies between 88...