PBDEs are human-influenced chemicals utilized massively as flame retardants. They are environmentally persistent, not easily degraded, bioaccumulate in the biological tissue of organisms, and bio-magnify across the food web. They can travel over a long distance, with air and water being their possible transport media. They can be transferred to non-target organisms by inhalation, oral ingestion, breastfeeding, or dermal contact. These pollutants adsorb easily to solid matrices due to their lipophilicity and hydrophobicity; thus, sediments from rivers, lakes, estuaries, and ocean are becoming their major reservoirs aquatic environments. They have low acute toxicity, but the effects of interfering with the thyroid hormone metabolism in the endocrine system are long term. Many congeners of PBDEs are considered to pose a danger to humans and the aquatic environment. They have shown the possibility of causing many undesirable effects, together with neurologic, immunological, and reproductive disruptions and possible carcinogenicity in humans. PBDEs have been detected in small amounts in biological samples, including hair, human semen, blood, urine, and breastmilk, and environmental samples such as sediment, soil, sewage sludge, air, biota, fish, mussels, surface water, and wastewater. The congeners prevailing in environmental samples, with soil being the essential matrix, are BDE 47, 99, and 100. BDE 28, 47, 99, 100, 153, 154, and 183 are more frequently detected in human tissues, whereas in sediment and soil, BDE 100 and 183 predominate. Generally, BDE 153 and 154 appear very often across different matrices. However, BDE 209 seems not frequently determined, owing to its tendency to quickly breakdown into smaller congeners. This paper carried out an overview of PBDEs in the environmental, human, and biota niches with their characteristics, physicochemical properties, and fate in the environment, human exposure, and health effects.

PBDEs 是大量用作阻燃剂的受人类影响的化学品。它们在环境中具有持久性，不易降解，在生物体的生物组织中进行生物积累，并在整个食物网中进行生物放大。它们可以长距离旅行，空气和水是它们可能的运输媒介。它们可以通过吸入、口服、母乳喂养或皮肤接触转移到非目标生物体。由于它们的亲油性和疏水性，这些污染物很容易吸附到固体基质上；因此，来自河流、湖泊、河口和海洋的沉积物正在成为它们的主要水库水环境。它们的急性毒性低，但干扰内分泌系统甲状腺激素代谢的作用是长期的。许多多溴二苯醚同系物被认为对人类和水生环境构成危险。它们已经显示出引起许多不良影响的可能性，包括神经系统、免疫系统和生殖系统的破坏以及对人类的可能致癌性。PBDEs 已在生物样本（包括头发、人类精液、血液、尿液和母乳）以及环境样本（如沉积物、土壤、污水污泥、空气、生物群、鱼类、贻贝、地表水和废水）中检测到少量。BDE 47、99 和 100 在以土壤为基本基质的环境样品中占主导地位。BDE 28、47、99、100、153、154 和 183 在人体组织中更常见，而在沉积物和土壤，BDE 100 和 183 占主导地位。通常，BDE 153 和 154 经常出现在不同的矩阵中。然而，BDE 209 似乎并不经常被确定，因为它倾向于迅速分解成更小的同系物。本文概述了环境、人类和生物群生态位中的 PBDEs 及其特性、物理化学性质和在环境中的归宿、人类暴露和健康影响。