Distribution of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the surface sediment of the East China Sea

Abstract

The concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were determined in the surface sediments of 20 locations in the East China Sea (ECS). The P PBDEs (sum of 13 PBDE congeners, without brominated diphenyl ether 209 (BDE209) ranged from 2.6 to 49 pg g -1 (dry weight) with an average of 21 pg g -1 , which fell at the low end of the global range. The spatial distribution presented an offshore decreasing trend towards the outer shelf and along the coastline, suggesting a direct influence of the inputs by the Yangtze River. The P PBDE concentrations were influenced by the total organic carbon of the sediment, as demonstrated by their similar spatial distributions. The P C 27 ? C 29 ? C 31 n-alkanes concentrations and sand % reported in the literature for sediments in the ECS presented similar spatial distributions as P PBDEs, which suggests that a considerable part of P PBDEs may come from the Yangtze River and that grain size plays an important role in PBDE accumulation. The three dominant congeners were BDE28 (19.8 %), BDE47 (26.4 %), and BDE99 (16.8 %). The present study compared the congener patterns of the sedimentary PBDEs with those of commercial products. The results indicated the possible use of penta-BDE in the Yangtze River Basin in a wide range or the fractionation and transformation of PBDE congeners during their long-range transport.

PBDEs, PCBs and PCDD/Fs in the sediments from seven major river basins in China: Occurrence, congener profile and spatial tendency

“…PCDD/F and PCB concentrations were generally comparable to the previous results in the lower reaches areas of Yangtze River (Nie et al, 2013;Shen et al, 2006;Sun et al, 2005;Yang et al, 2009). Unlikely, PBDE concentration in Yangtze River Delta S12 was much higher than the observation by Chen et al (2006) in the intertidal zone of the Yangtze River Delta and Li et al (2014) in the estuary and East China Sea. This could be attributed to the different sampling sites and reported congeners.…”

“…This could be attributed to the different sampling sites and reported congeners. Li et al (2014) reported the determination of 13 BDE congeners without BDE-209, while extremely high level of BDE-209 was observed in the composite sample in our study (99.9% of 14 PBDEs).…”

“…are situated close to these rivers, resulting in the release of PBDEs, PCBs and PCDD/Fs into the aqueous system. Some regional studies have revealed the POPs pollution in the aquatic systems around China, including water (Guan et al, 2007;Liu et al, 2008), fish (Han et al, 2007;Wei et al, 2011), sediment (Chen et al, 2006;Li et al, 2014;Shen et al, 2006;Sun et al, 2005), etc. The results suggested occurrence of bioaccumulation and biomagnification of POPs in aquatic biotas, which may threaten human health, especially for the local inhabitants.…”

Environmental Characteristics of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Marine System, with Emphasis on Marine Organisms and Sediments

“…Several researchers also found a positive correlation between the distribution of PBDEs and organic carbon in sediment of a river estuary [4, 43]. However, poor correlations have also been observed between TOC and PBDEs in other areas [2, 41, 62, 66, 67]. …”

“…It is still hold true for the study in East China Sea. It presented a broad similar pattern between low-percentage sandy sediments and the concentrations of PBDEs [62], while the rule is not suitable for the South China Sea [41]. …”