Southern Illinois University professor Dr. Da Chen has
studied flame retardant contamination all over the world. Thus, when he arrived
in Carbondale this past August and confirmed that no such research had been
done in Illinois rivers, he submitted a proposal to the Illinois Water
Resources Center Annual Small
Grants program to study levels of this contaminate in Illinois fish.
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are a group of chemicals
added to everyday items like curtains,
toasters, and car seats to reduce their flammability. They are also widely
produced, and, Dr. Chen explains, most of them are not actually bound to the
substances to which they’re added and so “a fraction may escape during
production, use, disposal, and recycling [...] and enter the environment.” And,
since some types of BFRs have shown environmental persistence, bioaccumulation,
and toxic potential, BFRs have “attracted mounting environmental and human health
concerns.”
“We are living in a world surrounded by flame
retardant-treated consumer products,” writes Dr. Chen, “but we know so little
about the consequence of massive usage of these man-made chemicals. I am
interested in understanding their sources, fate, transport, environmental
behavior, wildlife and human exposure, and associated impacts.”
Dr. Chen aims to do just that by partnering with the Fish
Contaminant Monitoring Program (FCMP) in Illinois, which has been
collecting fish all over the state for decades. Having years of data available
means that not only can the change in BFR levels over time be measured but
potential sources of contamination can also be identified. Dr. Chen and his lab
plan to start analyzing samples collected by the FCMP this spring. Dr. Chen
says he expects to find BFRs in the fish, since flame retardants are considered
a global contaminant, but anticipates that the levels of contamination will
depend on locations within rivers.
Dr. Chen’s research findings will be posted to IWRC’s
website in April of 2014.
