title: Identification and determination of the contribution of iron-steel manufacturing industry to sediment-associated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a large shallow lake of eastern China.
abstract: Seventeen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds were determined in surface sediments collected from the Chaohu Lake (a large shallow lake in eastern China) and its tributaries. Both diagnostic ratios and a receptor model (positive matrix factorization, PMF) were applied to identify and determine the contribution of a local iron-steel manufacturing plant located in the Nanfei River (NFR) to the Chaohu Lake basin. The results show that sites located in the downstream of the steel plant contained concentrations of 17 PAH (Σ17PAH) approximately two orders of magnitudes higher than those from other sites. Five factors were identified by the PMF model, including industrial waste, wood/biomass burning, diagenetic origin, domestic coal combustion, and industrial combustion. Our findings suggest that sediments in the downstream of the plant and in the western part of the Chaohu Lake were predominantly affected by industrial coal combustion. A mixture of pyrolytic origins impacted urban sediments in the upstream of the plant, whereas diagenetic origins along with coal and biomass burning were suggested to influence the eastern part and rural tributaries of the lake. To assess the potential ecological risk and toxicity caused by the iron-steel plant, sediment toxicity was evaluated by the PMF model, sediment quality guideline, and toxic equivalent factors. All of the three approaches suggested PAH accumulation in the NFR sediments could produce significant adverse ecological effects and half of the sediment toxicity in the NFR may be attributed to the emissions from the iron-steel plant. Some rural locations also exhibited PAH concentrations above probable effects, most likely contributed by wood/biomass burning.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.|Anhui Academy of Environmental Science Research, Hefei, 230071, China.
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Oceanic Administration People's Republic of China, Third Institute of Oceanography, Xiamen, Fujian, 361008, China.
authors.forename: Ya-Shu
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, China. wangjizh@hfut.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ji-Zhong
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Chuan
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, China.
authors.forename: Tian-Hu
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
authors.forename: Da-Qiang
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D007501:Iron; D060106:Lakes / Q000032:analysis*; D066192:Manufacturing Industry; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers; D013232:Steel; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D013232:Steel; D007501:Iron
keywords: Iron–steel manufacturing plant; PAHs; Source appointment; Toxicity assessment