Water and bottom sediment samples were taken from the Zhenjiang section of the lower reach of Yangtze River, China during the autumn of 2011, aimed to study the pollution levels of six kinds of phthalate acid esters (PAEs). Water samples were prepared by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS), with spiked recoveries ranging from 33.5% to 121.0%. Sediment samples were pretreated using ultrasonic-assisted organic solvent extraction, with recoveries varying from 43.7% to 107.6%. Results showed that the concentration levels of PAEs are below the limit of detection (LOD) –63.3μg/L in the water samples of Yangtze River. Tongji River water are severely contaminated by PAEs, with the concentrations of di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) up to 613ug/L. Four of PAEs were detected in the tap water of Zhenjiang. It was also found that all of detected PAEs are dominantly partitioned on suspended solids in water samples. The concentrations of PAEs in sediment samples are ranged from <LOD to 7.5mg/kg.

In this study the toxicity of malachite green (MG) to aquatic plants (rice seeds) and impact by Aldrich humic acid (HA, used as model dissolved organic matter) were investigated with the germination rate of rice seeds. Results showed that germination rate was decreased from 77% to 1% with the increasing concentration of MG (0-2000 mg L-1), and the obvious dose-response relationship was observed. At the same time, the germination rate was improved from 33% to 50% after the addition of HA (1-500 mg L-1) at the fixed concentration of MG (1000 mg L-1).