This paper focuses on the pathway,the kinetic laws and the mechanisms of BDE-47 photo-degradation in the environment.By changing the degradation conditions(such as light sources,solvents,inorganic salts and free radical scavengers)and analyzing the degradation products using gas chromatography(GC)and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry(GC/MS),a better understanding of the fate of 2,2',4,4'-Tetrabromodiphenyl ether(BDE-47)in the environment is obtained.Results show that(i)the degradation reactions of BDE-47 under four different types of light sources are well described by the first order kinetic equation(r≥0.9995);(ii)hydrogen-donating ability and light absorption property of an organic solvent have a joint influence on the kinetics of degradation of BDE-47,which makes the degradation rate constants of BDE-47 different in different solvents(hexane 0.2735,methanol 0.2720,toluene 0.1280,methanol/water(1:1)0.0673,acetonitrile 0.0471,acetone 0.0030);(iii)the types and quantities of detected degradation products of BDE-47 are different in different solvents,BDE-1 is found only in hexane solvent,BDE-3 is not found in toluene,the relative content of BDE-28 in toluene is the highest(91.3%);(iv)inorganic ions have different effects on the degradation of BDE-47,the half-life of 0.10 mmol Fe^(3+) is reduced by 46.1%compared with that without adding 0.10 mmol Fe^(3+),the half-life of 0.5 mmol NH_(4)^(+) is reduced by 46.7%compared with that without 0.5 mmol NH4 t,50 mg/L TBA can increase the halflife by 5.1%compared with no addition.