Fast Removal of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers from Aqueous Solutions by Using Low-Cost Adsorbents

4-Dibromodiphenyl ether (BDE-3) and 4,4′-dibromodiphenyl ether (BDE-15) are two of the major polybrominated diphenyl ethers used as flame-retardant additives in computer main boards and in fireproof building materials. In this study, we evaluated the potential of three low-cost adsorbents, black tea, green tea, and coconut palm leaf powders, to adsorb BDE-3 and BDE-15 from aqueous solutions. The results showed that pressure steam washing of the adsorbents increased their capacities to adsorb BDE-3 and BDE-15. The maximum adsorption capacities of pressure steam–washed black tea, green tea, and coconut palm leaf powders were 21.85 mg·L −1 , 14.56 mg·L −1 and 22.47 mg·L −1 , respectively. The results also showed that the adsorption equilibrium ( q e ) was achieved at 4 min. Moreover, 97.8% of BDE-3 and 98.5% of BDE-15 could be removed by adsorbents pretreated with pressure steam washing. The kinetic data fitted well with a pseudo-second-order equation. The adsorption rate constants ( k 2 ) of all pressure steam–washed adsorbents ranged from 8.16 × 10 −3 to 6.61 × 10 −2 g·(mg·L −1 ) −1 ·s −1 , and the amount adsorbed at q e by all pressure steam–washed adsorbents ranged from 4.21 to 4.78 mg·L −1 . Green alga Chlorella vulgaris was used as the test organism and the median effective concentration values of BDE-3 and BDE-15 were 7.24 and 3.88 mg·L −1 , respectively. After BDE-3 and BDE-15 were removed from the solution, their biotoxicities markedly decreased. These findings indicate that these low-cost adsorbents can be used to remove BDE-3 and BDE-15 from aqueous solutions and wastewater.