Distributions of organochlorine compounds in sediments from Jiulong River Estuary and adjacent Western Taiwan Strait: Implications of transport, sources and inventories.
Estuaries and coastal areas strongly influenced by terrestrial inputs resulted from anthropogenic activities. To study the distributions, origins, potential transport and burden of organochlorine compounds (OCs) from river to marginal sea, organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were investigated in surface sediments collected from a subtropical estuary (Jiulong River Estuary, JRE) and the inner shelf of adjacent Western Taiwan Strait (WTS). The concentrations of OCPs and PCBs were from 5.2 to 551.7 and 1.0-8.1 ng g-1(dry weight), respectively. OCP concentrations in the JRE were higher than in adjacent WTS, and a decreasing trend with the ascending distance from the estuary to the open sea was observed. Concentrations of DDTs were quite high in the upper reach of the estuary, inferred from antifouling paint on fishing boats of a local shipping company. According to established sediment quality guidelines, DDTs in the JRE posed potential ecological risk. HCHs in the estuary were mainly derived from the weathered HCHs preserved in the agriculture soils via local major river runoffs. OCPs patterns showed that OCPs in the south coast of WTS were resulted from local sources via river input, while OCPs in the north coast attributed to the long-range transport derived by the Fujian-Zhejiang Coastal Current. Minor variations of PCB concentrations and homologs indicated that PCBs were not the main pollutant in the agricultural region, consistent lighter PCBs reflected industrial PCBs were transported via atmospheric deposition derived by East Asia Monsoon. Moreover, the primary distribution pattern founded for DDTs and the considerable mass inventories and burdens calculated (258.1 ng cm-2and 10.4 tones for OCPs) that higher than Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta, together suggested that the contaminated sediments in the study area may be a potential source of OCPs to the global ocean.
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
Yuling
Y
Wu
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China. Electronic address: xhwang@xmu.edu.cn.
Xinhong
X
Wang
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
Miaolei
M
Ya
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
Yongyu
Y
Li
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
Huasheng
H
Hong
D000383:Agriculture; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D063366:Estuaries; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000032:analysis*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013624:Taiwan; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
Inventory; OCs; Sediment; Source; Spatial distribution