Wet and dry depositions serve as important factors affecting the distributions

transport

and transfer of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in atmosphere. On the one hand

wet and dry depositions can wipe out POPs

such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the atmosphere

but on the other hand

these POPs become important source for contamination when they enter water

sediment

and soil. This paper summarized the worldwide study on dry and wet depositions of PBDEs in the atmosphere

including the composition of PBDEs in air and rain water

wet and dry deposition fluxes

scavenging ratio

and dry deposition velocity

etc. The wet and dry deposition patterns of PBDEs in the atmosphere were described for the first time using chemical partitioning space map (CPSM)

and the comparison with the published data indicated that CPSM would properly describe the partitioning behavior for PBDEs-gaseous phase was major portion for BDE-47

and particulate phase the dominant for BDE-209 in both dry and wet depositions. A summary and future development on wet and dry deposition of PBDEs also have been provided