This study presents the first investigation of concentrations and congener group patterns of atmospheric short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) throughout East Asia. Based on an absorption rate calibration experiment, a spatial survey of SCCPs was performed using passive air samplers in China, Japan, and South Korea during two separate periods in 2008. The atmospheric concentrations of SCCPs in China were clearly greater than those in Japan and South Korea, both of which exceed the levels determined for other regions of the world. C 10 components were the most abundant type of SCCPs in China, whereas C 11 components were dominant in Japan and South Korea. With respect to the total chlorine content, Cl 6 and Cl 5 were the predominant compounds in China and Japan; however, Cl 6 and Cl 7 were predominant in South Korea. A similar pattern was also found for remote sites within China, Japan, and South Korea, respectively. Together with the back-trajectories calculated for the remote sites, the results indicate that the SCCPs in the air of East Asia were mainly influenced by local sources due to their relatively low long-range atmospheric transport potential compared to other POPs.

Research on the environmental fate of shortand medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs) in highly industrialized subtropical areas is still scarce. Air, soil, and atmospheric deposition process in the Pearl River Delta of South China were investigated, and the average SCCP and MCCP concentrations were 5.2 μg/sampler (17.69 ng/m 3 ) and 4.1 μg/sampler for passive air samples, 18.3 and 59.3 ng/g for soil samples, and 5.0 and 5.3 μg/(m 2 d) for deposition samples, respectively. Influenced by primary sources and the properties of chlorinated paraffins (CPs), a gradient trend of concentrations and a fractionation of composition from more to less industrialized areas were discovered. Intense seasonal variations with high levels in summer air and winter deposition samples indicated that the air and deposition CP levels were controlled mainly by the vapor and particle phase, respectively. Complex environmental processes like volatilization and fractionation resulted in different CP profiles in different environment matrixes and sampling locations, with C

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