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www.benkeet.com © 2010 Ben Keet 1 Why most plastics in category 5, 6 and 7 should be landfilled and not recycled Drs. Ben Keet FRSC Geo & Hydro – K8 Ltd e-mail: ben@benkeet.comben@benkeet.com
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www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 2 Verschueren Environmental Consultancy B.V. Geo & Hydro – K8 Ltd Excellence in Environmental Engineering Study for Ministry for the Environment Investigation of brominated flame retardants present in articles being used, recycled and disposed of in New Zealand. http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/hazardous/investigation-of-brominated-flame- retardants/investigation-of-brominated-flame-retardants.pdf
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Flame retardants are present in many plastics. There are 9 main groups www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 3 Brominated flame retardants make up 10 % by weight In Europe alone 50.000 tons in 2007
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Brominated Flame Retardants polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs or BDE’s) tetrabromobisphenol (TBBP-A) hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 4
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polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) 209 congeners ProductComposition PoBDETrBDETeBDEPeBDEHxBDEHpBDEOBDENBDEDeBDE 0.3-3%97-98% OBDE10-12%43-44%31-35%9-11%0-1% PeBDE0-1%24-38%50-62%4-8% TeBDE7.6%--41-42%44-45%6-7% www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 5 Commercial BDE’s are always a blend
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Why a study into Brominated Flame Retardants ? PBDE’s Classed as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s) by Stockholm Convention Banned in most countries: Penta BDE Octa BDE Banned or to be banned: Deca BDE In many countries: Hazardous waste if products contain over 0.25% BDE www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 6
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Natural breakdown and bio-accumulation of PBDE’s Natural dehalogenation of PBDE’s by UV radiation (photodecomposition) Results in more lower brominated PBDE’s. Bioaccumulation is stronger for lower PBDEs Deco Nona Octa Septa Hexa Penta Tetra Aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation not well reseached. www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 7
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“the graph that launched a thousand papers” Meironyt D, Bergman A. 1999. Analysis of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Swedish Human Milk, www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 8
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BDE concentration in House / Office Dust www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 9 Study Location(s) Number of samples Total PBDEs (ppb)Deca (ppb) AverageRangeAverageRange House Dust 10 pooled samples of 10 houses each 10,543 4,254 - 20,505 9,8203,800 - 19,900 EWG study10 houses4,629 614 - 16,366 (41,203) 2,394< 400 - 7,510 5 houses3,699 1,412 - 11,426 1,232916 - 1,472 25 houses1,807145 - 27,0081,394137 - 19,100 2 houses267129 - 405180100 - 260 Office dust Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Denmark 7 Parliament buildings 2,371437 - 7,1002,129330 - 6,900 3 internet providers 405311 - 546360260 - 490
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How to Detect BFR’s ? Lab analysis Not av. In NZ Expensive Selective X-Ray Fluorescence Portable Sensitive to Br Not selective www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 10 Figure E.1 Display of XRF analyser showing the bromine concentration of a wall switch (Mitre 10)
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Estimated quantities of BDE in various sources of the New Zealand environment www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 11
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www.benkeet.com©2008 Ben Keet 12 Landfill lechate was sampled at Greenmount and Hampton downs. At Hampton Downs, closed cell 1 daily 0.034 ng BDEs leave the landfill. This equates to ¼ kg of BDE containing plastic leaving landfill each year. This is 1 billionth of the total mass of plastics in the landfill. Landfill are secure to sore BDE’s
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BDE’s in Plastics www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 13 Plastic No. 5 6 3 4 7
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www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 14 BDE’s
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Recycling Polystyrene (No. 6) Good or Bad? Questions - Discussion www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 15 Figure 3 Richard Moore, creator of Poly Palace in Porirua
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