title: Spatial-temporal distribution and potential ecological risk assessment of nonylphenol and octylphenol in riverine outlets of Pearl River Delta, China.
abstract: The aquatic environments of the Pearl River Delta in Southern China are subjected to contamination with various industrial chemicals from local industries. In this paper, the occurrence, seasonal variation and spatial distribution of alkylphenol octylphenol (OP) and nonylphenol (NP) in river surface water and sediments in the runoff outlets of the Pearl River Delta were investigated. NP and OP were detected in all water and sediment samples and their mean concentrations in surface water during the dry season ranged from 810 to 3366 ng/L and 85.5 to 581 ng/L, respectively, and those in sediments ranged from 14.2 to 95.2 ng/g dw and 0.4 to 3.0 ng/g dw, respectively. In surface water, much higher concentrations were detected in the dry season than those in the wet season. In sediments, the concentrations in the dry season were also mostly higher. High concentrations of NP and OP were found in Humen outlet, likely due to high levels of domestic and industrial wastewater discharges. An ecological risk assessment with the use of hazard quotient (HQ) was also carried out and the HQ values ranged from 3.6×10(-5) to 35 and 64% of samples gave a HQ>1, indicating that the current levels of NP and OP pose a significant risk to the relevant aquatic organisms in the region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors.forename: Ru
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China; Center of Analysis and Test, Guangzhou 510632, China. Electronic address: tyinph@jnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Pinghe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China. Electronic address: zhaoling65@126.com.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Griffith School of Engineering, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Brisbane, Queensland 4111, Australia.
authors.forename: Qiming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Center of Analysis and Test, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors.forename: Aihua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Hydrobiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors.forename: Shunshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duan
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004463:Ecology; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis*; D011786:Quality Control; D018570:Risk Assessment; D045483:Rivers; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010636:Phenols; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C474055:octylphenol; C025256:nonylphenol
keywords: Ecological risk assessment; Environmental concentration; Nonylphenol; Octylphenol; Pearl River Delta