Large-scale monitoring and ecological risk assessment of persistent toxic substances in riverine, estuarine, and coastal sediments of the Yellow and Bohai seas
Seo Joon Yoon, Seongjin Hong, Seon-Ju Kim, Jongmin Lee, Taewoo Kim, Beomgi Kim, Bong-Oh Kwon, Yunqiao Zhou, Bin Shi, Peng Liu, Wenyou Hu, Biao Huang, Tieyu Wang, Jong Seong Khim
Abstract
dw in other locations. Concentrations of PAHs at 38 locations (30% of YSC and BS) posed a potential risk to aquatic ecosystems, whereas relatively low risk concentrations occurred in all locations of YSK. The main source of PAHs (concentrated in YSC and BS) were by-products of diesel and gasoline combustion (42% of total concentration), whereas biomass combustion (24%) dominated in YSK. Fresh inputs of PTSs indicated that the generation and use of PTSs continue across all regions and locations. Among PTSs, concentrations of PAHs were significantly associated with location (p < 0.05) relative to land-use within a given region, whereas concentrations of APs and SOs showed no significant relationships (p > 0.05) among or within regions. Over time, concentrations of PAHs have generally declined, but sediment contamination has increased at some locations in China, with sources shifting from a mixture of PAHs types to those linked to diesel and gasoline combustion. Additional studies are needed on the fate and potential ecological risk posed by certain PTSs in hotspots. This is one of the first efforts providing backgrounds on PTS pollution in the large marine ecosystem of the Yellow and Bohai seas.