Exposure and metabolism of new brominated flame retardants.

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) have been used in commercial and household products, with a number of new BFRs (nBFRs) being recently introduced on the market. At this moment, very little is known regarding the environmental fate, food chain transfer, metabolism and toxicological profile of these nBFRs and this warrants additional and systematic research. The present proposal builds on the extensive experience and collaboration network related to BFRs accumulated in my first research mandate.A first objective is the validation of suitable analytical methods for the detection of nBFRs at trace levels in environmental and biological matrices. It further aims at a systematic investigation of the exposure routes, fate and biomagnification potential of nBFRs in representative aquatic and terrestrial food chains. This research will also aim at evaluating the degree and pathways of human exposure to nBFRs. Furthermore, the metabolic pathways of nBFRs in representative species, including humans, will also be investigated. Finally, the project will investigate the metabolic rates for the most important nBFRs. The completion of the proposed project will ensure a better understanding of the accumulation, fate and metabolism of nBFRs in biota.

Keywords:ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY, FLAME RETARDANTS, METABOLISM

Disciplines:Sustainable chemistry, Other chemical sciences, Aquatic sciences, challenges and pollution, Environmental science and management, Nutrition and dietetics, Biomarker discovery and evaluation, Drug discovery and development, Medicinal products, Pharmaceutics, Pharmacognosy and phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmacotherapy, Toxicology and toxinology, Other pharmaceutical sciences, Agricultural animal production, Food sciences and (bio)technology