There is large usage of polybrominated diphenyl ethers （PBDEs） especially for decabromodiphenyl ether （BDE-209, Deca-BDE） in controlling the risks of fire. The toxicological effects of PBDEs are worth being concerned about. Female SD rats were daily gavaged with BDE-209 ether at the dose of 100 mg/kg for 20 days. Histological observation was performed for the screening of the target organs for BDE-209 exposure. The distribution and metabolism of PBDEs in the exposed main organs were evidenced by HRGC-HRMS. Alterations of the endogenous metabolite concentrations in urine were investigated using metabonomic approaches based on IH NMR spectrum. Histopathological changes including serious edema in kidney, hepatocellular spotty necrosis and perivasculitis in liver indicated that BDE-209 caused potential influences on endogenous metabolism in the exposed liver and the kidney. BDE-209 was found to be highly accumulated in lipid, ovary, kidney and liver after 20 days＇ exposure. Occurrence of other lower brominated PBDEs in the rats demonstrated that reductive debromination process happened in vivo. Hydroxylated and methoxylated-BDEs, as metabolism products, were also detected in the rat tissues. A total of 12 different endogenous metabolites showed obvious alterations in urine from the exposed rats, indicating the disturbance of the corresponding internal biochemical processes induced by BDE-209 exposure. These findings in vivo suggested the potential health risk might be of concern due to the toxicological effects of BDE-209 as a ubiquitous compound in the environment.
Triton X-114 based cloud point extraction has been demonstrated to be an advantageous approach for the recovery of nanosized copper oxide (NCO) from water. The removal of NCO was influenced by the concentrations of TX-114 and salt, incubation temperature and time, as well as solution pH. With the addition of 0.3% (w/v) Triton X-114, over 88% of the spiked NCO was removed from wastewater after incubation at 35°C for 2 h and centrifugation, whereas over 85% of NCO was recovered after incubation at 28°C for 20 h by gravity phase separation, which is economical and energy-saving. This study suggests that the cloud point extraction technique has great potential in removal of nanomaterials from wastewater.
