Marine Bacteria Produce Compounds Similar to Fire Retardants

A new study reveals that a group of marine bacteria  produces compounds similar to toxic man-made fire retardants.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, say that that marine bacteria found in diverse habitats produce compounds similar to flame retardants.  These chemicals are endocrine disruptors that imitate the human thyroid hormone.

"We find it very surprising and a tad alarming that flame retardant-like chemicals are biologically synthesized by common bacteria in the marine environment," said senior author Bradley Moore.

These toxic compounds are plybrominated dipheny ethers (PBDEs), a subgroup of brominated flame retardants that are mixed with foam, textiles and electronics to increase the temperature at which the products burn.

It has long been known that these PBDEs have the ability to accumulate in the fatty tissue of marine animals and earlier it was assumed that these compounds were anthropogenic in origin and caused due to ocean pollution.

This study successfully identified the bacteria responsible for synthesizing these compounds and whose presence offers clue into the distribution pattern of PBDEs in the marine food chain.

The researchers identified a group of 10 genes involved in the synthesis of over 15 bromine-containing polyaromatic compounds that include some PBDEs. DNA sequencing analysis also allowed the researchers to look into the ocean for other biological sources of the chemical and the risk they cause to human health.

"The next step is to look more broadly in the marine environment for the distribution of this gene signature and to document how these compounds are entering the food chain," said Vinayak Agarwal, PhD, postdoctoral researcher with the Scripps Center for Oceans and Human Health at UC San Diego.

The finding was conducted in Nature Chemical Biology.