Occurrence Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Coastal Sediments Off Guangdong Province

After more than 20 years of drastic economic development, Guangdong Province has become one of the economic superpowers in China. Within Guangdong, coastal areas are particularly well developed economically. The rapid economic development has led to concerns about whether the aquatic and coastal marine environments have been seriously polluted by organic contaminatants. On the other hand, there have been few studies on organic pollutant in the offshore marine areas off Guangdong Province, especially in Honghai bay, Yangjiang Harbor and Zhanjiang Sea. Therefore it is important to monitor the status of pollution, such as occurrence and spatial distribution, to understand the impact of anthropogenic activities on the coastal marine environment.In the present study, sediments were collected from offshore of Guangdong Province (Shantou Harbor, Zhelin Bay, Nan'ao Island, offshore of Shantou, Honghai Bay, offshore of Honghai Bay, Daya Bay, Hailing Bay, Shuidong Harbor, offshore of Hailing Bay, Zhanjiang Harbor, Leizhou Bay and offshore of Leizhou Bay) during 2006 to 2007 and analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The following conclusions were drawn from the results.The PAHs concentrations in the sediments samples followed the order of Shantou Harbor > Zhelin Bay > offshore of Shantou, Honghai Bay, offshore of Honghai Bay, Daya Bay, Hailing Bay, Shuidong Harbor, offshore of Hailing Bay and Zhanjiang Harbor > Leizhou Bay > offshore of Leizhou Bay. The overall levels of PAHs in this area are moderate compared to other regions in China but lower compared to other coastal areas of the world. Potential toxicological assessment suggested no adverse biological effects of PAHs in inshore and offshore of Guangdong Province, yet monitoring efforts are still needed to assess the long-term effects of PAHs in the region.