Two-stage reduction/subsequent oxidation treatment of 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether in aqueous solutions: kinetic, pathway and toxicity.

The effectiveness of a two-stage reduction/subsequent oxidation (T-SRO) treatment of BDE-47, consisting of Fe-Ag reduction and Fenton-like oxidation, was investigated in this study. As an oxidation-resisting pollutant, BDE-47 (5 mg L(-1)) was difficult to be degraded by homogeneous Fe-Ag/H(2)O(2) system coupled with ultrasound (US) in 30 min. However, when this solution was firstly treated with Fe-Ag/US, the final debrominated product could be rapidly oxidized by the succeeding Fenton-like reactions, resulting in an efficient debromination of BDE-47 and a 100% mineralization of diphenyl ether (DPE). To scrutinize the degradation mechanism, several analytical techniques including HPLC, LC-MS/MS and GC/MS, were employed to monitor the major intermediates and final products. Moreover, luminescent bacteria test showed that the acute toxicity of the original solution (before reduction) was evidently lower than that of Fe-Ag/US reduction-treated solution; no toxicity was detected after Fenton-like oxidation. Evidence for the significance of a T-SRO treatment to decompose BDE-47 was presented.