Study of the metabolism of decabromodiphenyl ether by human gut microbes

Decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209) is a persistent organic pollutant that is used as brominated flame retardant. In organisms, it could be metabolized into compounds that have higher toxicity than BDE209 itself. In the present study, the metabolism of BDE209 was investigated by human gut microbes obtained from feces and gut microbes incubated using the Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem. The results showed that the concentrations of BDE209 in the incubation solution did not decease during incubation (10 d). Debrominated metabolites were not found in chromatograms from gas chromatography-negative chemical ionization-mass spectrometry. There was no evidence that the human gut microbes could metabolize BDE209 through debromination.