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Bisphenol analogues are used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Despite the widespread use of bisphenols, few studies have reported the occurrence of compounds other than bisphenol A (BPA) in sediment. In this study, concentrations and profiles of eight bisphenol analogues were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) in sediments collected from several industrialized areas in the United States (U.S.), Japan, and Korea. The total concentrations of bisphenols (ΣBPs; sum of eight bisphenols) in sediment ranged from below the limit of quantitation (LOQ) to 25,300 ng/g dry weight (dw), with a mean value of 201 ng/g dw. Sediment samples from Lake Shihwa, Korea, contained the highest concentrations of both individual and total bisphenols. Among individual bisphenols, BPA and bisphenol F (BPF) were the predominant compounds, accounting for 64% and 30% of the total bisphenol concentrations in sediment. We also examined vertical profiles of concentrations of bisphenol analogues in sediment cores from the U.S. and Japan. Sediment cores from the U.S. showed a gradual decline in the concentrations of bisphenols as compared to the past decade. BPA concentrations were found to decline in a sediment core from Tokyo Bay, but bisphenol S (BPS) was more frequently detected in core sections that represent the most recent decade, which is consistent with the replacement of BPA with BPS in some applications since 2001 in Japan.

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