Review of the environmental occurrence/analytical techniques, degradation and toxicity of TBBPA and its derivatives

BFRs (brominated flame retardants) are a class of compounds that are added to or applied to polymeric materials to avoid or reduce the spread of fire. Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is one of the known BFR used many in industries today. Due to its wide application as an additive flame retardant in commodities, TBBPA has become a common indoor contaminant. Despite the detection of TBBPA and its derivatives in various environmental and biological samples, information on its occurrence in biota is scarce. TBBPA has been shown to possess immunotoxic, cytotoxic, thyroid hormone agonist, estrogenic activity, reproductive, hepatotoxicity, teratogenicity and neurotoxicity in previous studies. In this review, we evaluated the environmental occurrence of TBBPA (and its derivatives) in different environmental compartments using various analytical techniques, the transformation of TBBPA into various derivatives and the toxicity of TBBPA and its derivatives as well as outlining the possible mechanisms of actions. This review will go a long way in closing up the knowledge gap on the silent and over ignored deadly effects of TBBPA and its derivatives and their attendant consequences.