Persistent organic pollutants in coastal sediment off South China in relation to the importance of anthropogenic inputs

Abstract

Abstract-Surface sediments collected from the coastal region off South China were analyzed for persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). The concentrations of BDE-209, S 12 PBDE, S 15 PAH, S 7 PAH, and S 11 OCP were 0.22 to 26.3, 0.01 to 0.77, 13.9 to 271, 6 to 133, and 0.9 to 104 ng/g, respectively. The spatial distribution patterns of PBDEs and PAHs suggested that the eastern coastal region was slightly more contaminated than the western coast. In addition, the concentrations of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites (DDXs) were highly variable, with the highest level found at a site in Zhanjiang Bay, which might have been reflective of the impact of antifouling paints mainly used in boat maintenance in harbor areas. The predominance of BDE-209 in the study region was consistent with the usage pattern of penta-, octa-, and deca

Application of multiple geochemical markers to investigate organic pollution in a dynamic coastal zone

“…Chem. 32,2013in the present study were also higher than those in riverine runoff samples of the PRD (1.10 AE 0.34) [10], and urban aerosols of Guangzhou (1.03-1.16) [22], which were attributed to anthropogenic vehicular emissions. The compositional profiles of resolved n-alkanes (Fig.…”

“…Diagenetic perylene is normally most abundant in fine, anoxic sediments. Therefore, the prevailing anaerobic conditions for the same sampling areas in the present study [22] might suggest a diagenetic source of perylene. The seaward decline of perylene abundance in both sediments [50] and suspended particulate matter [51] from the PRE to the NSCS suggested that perylene was formed in situ in river sediments and was transported to marine sediments in association with terrestrially combustion-derived PAHs [50].…”

“…Quantitation of perylene-d 12 was not possible given an unknown coeluting peak; thus, the recovery data were discarded. For those target analytes whose levels in procedural blanks exceeded the lowest calibration level, the average concentration in procedural blanks in a 0.5 ml volume was divided by the average dry sample weight (24, 25, and 15 g for n-alkanes, LABs, and PAHs, respectively) and defined as its reporting limit [22]. Otherwise, the lowest calibration concentration in a 0.5 ml volume divided by the average dry sample weight was defined as the reporting limit (Supplemental Data, Table S1).…”

Association of soil polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon levels and anthropogenic impacts in a rapidly urbanizing region: Spatial distribution, soil–air exchange and ecological risk

“…In addition, Flu/(Flu + Pyr) values were higher than 0.5, while IcdP/(IcdP + BghiP) varied between 0.2 and 0.5, suggesting that combustions of coal, grass, wood and liquid fossil fuel were the main sources of PAHs (Yunker et al, 2002a(Yunker et al, , 2002b. This inconsistent notion was also observed in Dongjiang sediment of the PRD (Zhang et al, 2011a) and continental shelf sediment off China (Liu et al, 2012a), and it indicates that simple PAHs diagnostic indices may not be able to derive definite conclusions about input sources. Nevertheless, all these methods collectively suggested that soil PAHs in the present study were mainly sourced from combustion of coal and refined petroleum.…”

Spatial–temporal trend and health implications of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in resident oysters, South China Sea: A case study of Eastern Guangdong coast

“…Data for naphthalene, a volatile compound generally with an inconsistent recovery, were not reported. We therefore presented the sum of 15 PAHs, as in previous studies (Liu et al, 2012a(Liu et al, , 2012b. For all samples with concentration below the limits of detection (LOD), a value of zero was used in the calculation (Gu et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2012aLiu et al, , 2012b.…”