Occurrence, composition and biological risk of organophosphate esters (OPEs) in water of the Pearl River Estuary, South China

Anthropogenic Impacts on Organophosphate Ester Loads to an Urban Estuary in South China

“…Although the PRE is likely to have received fewer amounts of traditional OPEs from the eight major riverine outlets compared to previous studies, 5,11 the riverine inputs of emerging OPEs should not be ignored. This is because the consumption of OPEs as flame retardants keeps increasing, 48 and novel OPEs or OPE precursors (e.g., organophosphite antioxidants) have been frequently reported in the environment.…”

“…In 2020− 2021, around 45,200 kg year −1 of OPEs was discharged from the eight major riverine outlets to the PRE, lower than that discharged in 2017. 5 Although riverine inputs of OPEs from the PRD have been effectively reduced, the PRE still received a greater amount of OPEs than the Jiaozhou and Laizhou Bays (660 and 3580 kg year −1 , respectively), 42 attributing to a much larger river discharge to the PRE than the Jiaozhou and Laizhou Bays (4.55 × 10 9 m 3 ). 42 In contrast, the annual riverine input of OPEs to the PRE is greater than those of antibiotics (16,400 kg year −1 ) and organophosphorus pesticides (17,700 kg year −1 ) 13 but much lower than that of phthalates (139 × 10 4 kg year −1 ).…”

“…In recent years, about 2500 new chemicals have been reviewed by the government and then introduced into the market in the United States annually . Many chemicals as additives can be readily released into the environment during their lifecycles and carried to rivers and then estuaries, potentially endangering the aquatic ecosystems. − Notably, estuaries serve as crucial ecological habitats and fishery areas as well as buffers between the land and sea. Understanding anthropogenic impacts on chemical contamination in estuarine ecosystems is, therefore, indispensable for supporting their environmental management and sustainable development.…”

“…Tidal currents and riverine runoffs, in addition to sources, may affect the transport and input of OPEs to the PRE, considering that they have a significant impact on the riverine outlets of the PRD during the dry and wet seasons, respectively. Therefore, the tidal and seasonal influences must be considered to improve the evaluation of anthropogenic impacts of OPE loads on the PRE, which have not been thoroughly evaluated in previous studies. , Moreover, ecological risk assessment can indicate risk levels of OPEs but cannot quantify their overloading amounts to the estuary. Such knowledge gaps emphasize the need to improve the understanding of OPE contamination and refine the impact assessment on anthropogenic activities in the estuarine environment.…”

Water Analysis: Emerging Contaminants and Current Issues

“…The Pearl River Estuary (China) was the focus of another occurrence study by Shi et al, who measured OPEs from eight major waterways . Widespread occurrence was observed, with levels up to 442 ng/L (sum of nine OPEs), attributed to industrial activity in the region.…”