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Rapid economic growth during the past two decades in the region surrounding the Bohai and Yellow Seas has resulted in severe pollution. Large amounts of monitoring data on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in various environmental media have been accumulated, which allows us to conduct a fairly comprehensive assessment of the region around the Bohai and Yellow Seas to elucidate spatial patterns of pollution on a regional scale. This review summarized distributions of traditional and new POPs, including organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), in various environmental media. In general, due to their physico-chemical properties (poor solubility in water), OCPs and PCBs were mainly detected in sediments, PBDEs and HBCDs were mainly detected in sediments and soils. PFASs, which have greater solubility, were mainly detected in the hydrosphere. For conventional POPs, such as OCPs and PCBs, Bohai Bay and Haihe River in China, Gyeonggi Bay and Lake Sihwa in South Korea were found to be most polluted areas. While for new POPs, such as PBDEs, HBCDs and PFASs, some areas were heavily polluted due to local production and applications. Estuarine and coastal areas of the Bohai Sea were more severely contaminated by POPs than coastal regions of the Yellow Sea. Overall, the present review will guide identification of key areas for strengthening risk assessment of POPs and management practices.

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