title: Status of POPs accumulation in the Yellow River Delta: From distribution to risk assessment.
abstract: The Yellow River Delta (YRD) is a large region of China with complex pollution sources and a long history of environmental deterioration. Despite this, relatively little data exists on the status of important contaminants of concern in this region. Here, we review the literature on the status of key persistent organic pollutants (POPs) of concern including organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the YRD. Sources, source identification methods, and spatial distribution patterns are presented. Additionally, POPs contamination levels reported in the literature were evaluated against popular regulatory limits worldwide to form a basis for overall environmental health. Our review determined that OCPs in the YRD originated mainly from current pesticide use and past agricultural pesticide application. Sources of PAHs included petrochemical inputs, coal fired plants, and wood combustion. PCB levels were impacted by the petrochemical industry as well as waste disposal of PCB containing equipment. OCPs exhibited a spatial distribution pattern that increased along the urban-rural gradient, while the opposite was seen for PAHs and PCBs. Comparisons of POPs contamination levels in the YRD with popular regulatory limits suggest that the extent of PCB contamination all mediums (sediment, soil, water, and biota) exceeded that of PAHs and OCPs. Overall pollution levels in the YRD seem to be in control; however, levels from heavily polluted point sources raise numerous concerns about the ecological health of the region and require more attention from regulatory authorities.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization of MOE, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization of MOE, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, China. Electronic address: hnclchen@163.com.
authors.forename: Chunli
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: lifadong@igsnrr.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Fadong
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000032:analysis*; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D045483:Rivers; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Environmental occurrence; Oil field; Origins; POPs; Risk assessment; Yellow River estuary