title: [Status and influencing factors of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pollution in the coastal areas in China].
abstract: This review focused on the distribution, pollution status, sources and influencing factors of PCBs in the coastal areas (seawater, surface sediments and biota) in China. A few main points are listed as follows: (1) For coastal seawater, concentrations of PCBs were increasing from the north to the south and the highest concentrations of PCBs were observed in the developed east coastal areas. The concentrations of PCBs in most coastal areas were higher than the seawater standard of U. S. EPA (30 ng x L(-1)), indicating that there was a high potential risk. (2) Only a small part of surface sediments had PCBs concentrations higher than the ISQG (interim sediment quality guideline) and ERL (effects range-low) values, suggesting little probability of causing biological adverse effects and potential risk in surface sediments. (3) High-molecular-weight PCBs (4, 5 and 6 chlorinated biphenyl) were bio-accumulated in marine biota. The concentrations of PCBs in organisms were generally lower than 2000 ng x g(-1), which may have negligible effects on human health. (4) The main sources of PCBs were wastewater discharged from factories and the leakage of dismantling PCBs from electronic wastes. Factors influencing the concentrations and distribution of PCBs in the coastal areas included distance from land, flow exchange situation, water-carrying capacity, season, sediment particle size and total organic carbon content.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China. tianshi-0104@163.com
authors.forename: Min-Xia
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yu-Yi
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Qing-Xiao
authors.initials: QX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000032:analysis; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls