A spatial temporal assessment of pollution from PCBs in China

Abstract

This research represents an assessment of the current state of pollution from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in China. Various environmental media including sediment, water, organism and soil were analyzed and the spatial character of PCB pollution in each environmental medium was determined. On a national basis, PCB levels in all environmental media were relatively low, with little evidence of major contamination in ChinaÕs main regions and rivers. However, there were some locations with high PCB concentrations. Sediments in Pearl River (83.1 ng/g) and its estuary (58.9 ng/g), Dalian Bay (58.1 ng/g) and Songhua River (36.8 ng/g) had relatively high level of PCBs. There were also some areas, which were mainly the industrial pollution sites or PCB equipment storage locations, remained seriously polluted with the highest PCB residue level of 150 000 ng/g. In addition, Minjiang Estuary (985.2 ng/g) and Taihu Lake (631 ng/g) had high levels of water pollution, while Pearl Estuary (635.7 ng/g) and Jiaozhou Bay (273.3 ng/g) had relatively high PCB levels in organisms. PCB pollution in soil was limited to a few special pollution areas with the highest PCB level of 4.5448 · 10 6 ng/g. Point source pollution was the common pattern of contamination, influenced primarily by local geographic, economic and historical factors. Analysis of PCB concentrations from the 1980s to 1990s shows an increasing trend, possibly due to the improper disposal of and leakage from PCB containers, chemical transfers, and the general rise of industrial pollution.

Identification of Ah Receptor Agonists in Soil of E-waste Recycling Sites from Taizhou Area in China

“…The average concentration of 12 dioxin-like PCBs from e-waste recycling sites was 167.7 ng/g dw, which was greater than that from control sites by over 15 times (p < 0.05). The PCBs level was 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than those obtained from some other areas in China, such as Beijing, Shenyang, Wuhan, Hong Kong, and Tibet (14,28), but were at the same level as those found at some heavily polluted sites from China (29,30) and other countries (31,32), though information from China on soil PCB concentration is still very limited up to now. The PCB levels were statistically higher for sampling sites from simple household recycling workshops when compared with samples from large-scale recycling plants (P < 0.05).…”

Depth profile of persistent and emerging organic pollutants upstream of the Three Gorges Dam gathered in 2012/2013

“…The generally low PCB concentrations in the main stream of the Yangtze River could be expected. The results reflect the high dilution of these persistent organic compounds within the TGR as well as the ban of these compounds from production in China since 1974 (Xing et al 2005). At least for the sampling site of this study, no PCB point-source was indicated by the results.…”

“…Within the TGR, PCBs have been reported to originate from floods, heavy rains, industrial wastewater, and domestic sewage (Yang et al 2009). Higher PCB concentrations, however, could be observed in eastern China and the lower Yangtze Reaches (Xing et al 2005;Zhang et al 2011) where most of the PCB applications in industry have been located. With tri-and tetra-PCBs being the most abundant PCB congeners in our study, the results are in well accordance to the major produced and applied PCBs in China (Yang et al 2009).…”

“…PCBs, which have former been used in power capacitors as dielectric fluid or paint additive, are still abundant in the environment. Being banned for production and use, one possible source may nowadays be the illegal disposal and leakage of PCBcontaining waste (Xing et al 2005). In water, PCB levels are usually expected to be lower than in soil and sediment due to their hydrophobicity and water solubility.…”

Organohalogen contamination in passerine birds from three metropolises in China: Geographical variation and its implication for anthropogenic effects on urban environments

“…The historically small volume of production and consumption on PCBs in China are probably responsible for this case (Xing et al, 2005). PBDE level in our study were in the same range as those of North America, but were generally higher than those of Europe Eens et al, 2013) (Table S2 in Supplementary Data).…”