This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A new study has found that regulatory restrictions introduced more than half a century ago have failed to eliminate contamination from banned chemicals across Europe. Researchers say they detected banned chemicals in air, water, sediments, soils, snow and sludge, demonstrating their environmental persistence.
They add that they were surprised to find concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in ecosystems in the 25 European countries included in the study, which is published in the journal Environmental Research. For decades, PBDEs played a vital role in reducing fire risks in electronics, textiles, plastics, vehicles, furniture and building materials. While their purpose was to enhance safety, their legacy has proven far more complex.
"One of the most important findings is the dominance of BDE-209 in particle-rich matrices, including sediments, sludge, wastewater-related systems and deposition," said the study's lead author, Prof. Khaled Abass from the College of Health Sciences at the University of Sharjah. "This matters because sediments and sludge are not passive storage sites." According to the researchers, sediments can serve as long-term environmental reservoirs, gradually releasing contaminants into waterways, soils, waste-management systems and food chains.
The study also found that lower-brominated congeners such as BDE-47 and BDE-99 were more prevalent in air and soil samples, indicating that PBDE behavior and distribution vary considerably across environmental compartments. "PBDEs were widely detected across Europe in both impacted and remote environments, with distributions strongly dependent on matrix type," the authors noted. "Water generally showed lower, more transient concentrations, whereas sediments, sludge and some soils acted as major reservoirs." The team led by Abass brought together researchers from the University of Oulu in Finland, the Technical University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic and the University of Belgrade in Serbia.
Their study presents a comprehensive systematic review in which they assessed the occurrence, distribution and congener-specific patterns of PBDEs across European environmental compartments, as well as the implications of legacy contamination and existing regulatory frameworks. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and was registered with PROSPERO (CRD420251207298). Peer-reviewed studies were retrieved from Ovid, Scopus and Web of Science through November 2025.
Of the studies identified, 181 met the inclusion criteria for analysis. Evidence was synthesized across multiple environmental matrices, including air, water, sediments, soils, snow/firn and sludge. Study quality and risk of bias were assessed using the SURE checklist.
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