title: Phthalate esters in water and surface sediments of the Pearl River Estuary: distribution, ecological, and human health risks.
abstract: The Pearl River Estuary (PRE) is vulnerable due to the increasingly serious environmental pollution, such as phthalate esters (PAEs) contaminants, from the Pearl River Delta (PRD). The concentrations of six US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) priority PAEs in water and surface sediments collected from the PRD's six main estuaries in spring, summer, and winter 2013 were measured by GC-MS. Total PAEs (∑6PAEs) concentrations were from 0.5 to 28.1 μg/L and from 0.88 to 13.6 μg/g (dry weight (DW)) in water and surface sediments, respectively. The highest concentration was detected in summer. Higher concentrations of PAEs were found in Yamen (YM) and Humen (HM) areas than the other areas. Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) were the dominant PAEs in the investigated areas, contributing between 61 and 95 % of the PAEs in water and from 85 to 98 % in surface sediments. Based on risk quotients (RQs), DEHP posed greater ecological risks to the studied aquatic environments than other measured compounds. Little human health risk from the target PAEs was identified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, People's Republic of China. tyinph@jnu.edu.cn.|Research Center of Analysis and Test, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, People's Republic of China. tyinph@jnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Pinghe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Water/Soil Toxic Pollutants Control and Bioremediation of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Environmental Engineering, Jinan University, No. 601, Huangpu Da Dao Xi, Guangzhou, 510632, People's Republic of China. zhaoling@jnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D003993:Dibutyl Phthalate / Q000032:analysis; D004051:Diethylhexyl Phthalate / Q000032:analysis; D004463:Ecology; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004952:Esters / Q000032:analysis*; D063366:Estuaries; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D012306:Risk; D045483:Rivers; D012621:Seasons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004952:Esters; D010795:Phthalic Acids; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D003993:Dibutyl Phthalate; C032279:phthalic acid; D004051:Diethylhexyl Phthalate
keywords: Ecological risk assessment; Health risk assessment; Pearl River Estuary; Phthalate esters; Seasonal variation; Spatial distribution