Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) concentrations in soil, sediment and water samples around electronic wastes dumpsites in Lagos, Nigeria

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were listed in the Stockholm Convention as POPs because of their bio-accumulative, long-range and toxicity characteristics. Therefore, these should be managed and assessed by Parties of the convention in an environmentally sound manner. This present study assessed the status of PBDEs contamination at e-waste dumpsites in Lagos, Nigeria. Soil and sediment samples were collected from 3 e-waste dumpsites and water samples were collected from rain water ponds located within the e-waste dumpsites vicinities and control sites over a period of two years. The concentrations of ∑7PBDEs in soils from the e-waste dumpsites at 0–15 cm depth for the first and second year ranged from 141 to 302 ngg−1 dry weight, respectively while that of the control soils was 13.2–27.2ngg−1 dry weight. These high concentrations may be attributed to the fact that open burning of electronic waste was the regular method of reducing the volume of e-waste at the sites. PBDE levels across the soil profile from 0 to 45 cm depth showed a gradual increase in PBDEs accumulation in the topsoil and migration into the sub-soil over the period of 2 years, but with no significant difference (p-value = 0.89). Sediments and water from the rain water ponds around the dumpsites were found to be contaminated by PBDEs with levels ranging from 51.4 to 85.8ngg−1 and 14.4 to 27.4ngg−1, respectively, while levels in control for sediment and water are 11.5ngg−1 and 2.43ngg−1respectively.These, however indicates that there was significance difference between the PBDEs levels in water and sediment from the study sites with those of their respective controls (p-value for water was 0.01, while that for sediment was 0.03).The levels of PBDEs in this study sites were higher than those of the respective control. The range of PBDEs in e-waste dumpsites was comparable to those reported in USA and Europe but lower than those from China. Environmental samples from the e-waste dumpsites in Lagos were contaminated with PBDEs, there is therefore the need for proper disposal methods for end-of-life products especially those containing PBDEs in Nigeria.