Critical review of selected heavy metal and chlorinated hydrocarbon concentrations in the marine environment

Characterization of transboundary POP contamination in aquatic ecosystems of Pearl River delta

“…The PCB congeners identified are principally moderately-chlorinated biphenyls, i.e., tetra-to hepta-chlorinated, rather than lower chlorinated congeners. The average concentration is much lower than those reported for other coastal areas in the world (Fowler, 1990;Iwata et al, 1994). Thus, PCBs might not be major contaminants and might not be a major environmental concern in most of the Pearl River delta, except at certain highly industrialized and urbanized areas such as Huangpujiang.…”

“…Concentrations of HCH in surface sediments are comparable with other river/estuary systems in other coastal areas of the world, such as in Japan, Europe and North America, except some polluted areas. However, concentrations of DDTs and its metabolites appear to be relatively higher (Fowler, 1990;Iwata et al, 1994).…”

Use of lipid biomarkers for identification of regional sources and dechlorination characteristics of polychlorinated biphenyls in the East China Sea

“…The PCB levels were comparable with the sediments from the Yangtze River Estuary (YRE) and ECS inner shelf (24.3 pg/g to 343.3 pg/g) (Duan et al, 2013), but were markedly lower than those detected in the surface sediments of Bohai Bay (n.d. to 36,100 pg/g) (Zhao et al, 2010), southern Yellow Sea (518 pg/g to 5848 pg/g) (Zhang et al, 2007), and Pearl River estuary (11.13 ng/g to 23.23 ng/g) (Nie et al, 2005) in China. Their values were in the low end of the global content range of PCBs (0.2 ng/g to 400 ng/g) in nearshore surface sediments (Fowler, 1990). Light congeners, including mono-, di-, tri-, and tetra-PCBs, accounted for 46.0% to 93.1% (average value of 70.6%) of the total PCBs, and the percentage of medium (penta-, hexa-, and hepta-PCBs) and heavy (octa-, nona-, and deca-PCBs) congeners ranged from 4.8% to 49.2% (average value of 24.9%) and 1.3% to 10.5% (average value of 4.5%), respectively (Fig.…”

Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, mercury, and selenium in feathers of Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) and Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) from Prince William Sound, Alaska

“…Some metals that are persistent in nature readily accumulate in organisms, particularly those that are long-lived, high on the food chain, or live in industrialized areas exposed to anthropogenic sources (Fowler, 1990;Burger, 2002;Gochfeld, 1999, 2002). Because some pollutants undergo biomagnification up the food chain, and can accumulate with age, concentrations are generally higher in top trophic level birds and mammals (Lewis and Furness, 1991;Ohlenhdorf, 1993;Bargagli et al, 1998;Scheifler et al, 2005).…”