Persistent Organic Pollutants In Surface Sediments And Marine Organisms From Coastal Areas Of The Southern Shandong Peninsula

The research seaarea is near the southern Shandong peninsula, and in the west of Yellow sea. There are Tsingtao Port, Rizhao Port and so on. There are Jiaozhou Bay, Laoshan Bay, Tianheng Island, Lingshan Island and some other islands. Over the past two decades, with the rapid development of coastal cities in the eastern part, the coastal environment of the Yellow Sea was influenced by the terrestrial pollutants input and the marine aquaculture, fishing and marine transportation, etc. In order to study the status of environmental quality, the spatio-temporal variation, the impact factors and ecological risks of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Organochlorine Pesticides (OCPs) in surface sediments and marine animals, we analyzed and detected the sediment and marine animal samples, and finaly evaluated for the purpose of pollution level in this area. The results were listed as follows:The level of PCBs in the surface sediments was higher in the Jiaozhou Bay and southwest coast of Tsingtao. There were relatively lower values in the other research areas. The distribution of PCBs showed that the concentrations decreased gradually from the inshore area to the offshore area. In the Jiaozhou Bay, the PCBs were higher in the west, but lower in the east. And the PCBs mainly came from the discharge of industrial waste and household garbage, for the predominating components were the low-chlorinated PCB congeners. The PCBs in Huangdao coastal area mainly came from industrial community. The level of PCBs suggested the potential risk of environmental pollution was low.The distribution character of PAHs in the surface sediments showed that the concentrations decreased gradually from the inshore area to the offshore area. The higher region concentrated in the coastal along Shandong Peninsula and Jiaozhou Bay. According to the ratio of phenanthrene/anthracene and fluoranthene/pyrene, the releasing of burning waste of fuel was one of the most important source to PAHs in this area. In the Jiaozhou Bay sediments, the oil pollution and the fossil fuels combustion were two main sources of PAHs. And in the other sea area, the pollution was mainly from terristrial sources. The concentrations of PAHs in the sediments were between the ERL and ERM standard, but the high rings of PAHs were detected in the samples of each station. It indicated that, although the level of pollution in the research area was slight, it had potential risk to halobios and human beings.The distribution character of OCPs in surface sediments showed it decreased from the inshore area to the offshore. And the highly polluted area distributed along Shandong peninsula character at the same time. However, the level of OCPs in Tsingtao coast was very low. It might be a result of the sewage from the city with less OCP. The relative concentration of each constituent and the ratio ofα-HCH/γ-HCH showed lindane from agriculture and HCH from industry polluted this area a little seriously. The ratio of (DDD+DDE)/DDTs indicated that only a few OCPs were imported into the area in the recent years. The ratio of DDE/DDD reflected that DDT was decomposed by microbial degradation in surface sediment. According to the Ingersoll Risk Evaluation Standard, it was low pollution in the research area.The composition of PCBs in different organisms varied a lot. The fish got the highest gross concentration, and the mollusk and shrimp followed, which indicated the PCBs were easier to be concentrated in the organisms with more fat. The main congeners of PCBs in fish were low-chlorinated PCBs. In Jiaozhou Bay, the sediments were easier to be interrupted by the environmental factors, therefor the fish had the highest PCBs concentration. By comparing the PCBs composition of the species, it showed that the origins of the differences between species were the living habits, habitat and physiological characteristics.The average concentration of PAHs showed that it was highest in the fish, but the shrimp had lowest level. Sixteen kinds PAHs were detected in all the samples. The composition of PAHs was close in the fish, in which low ring PAHs were concentrated, such as Naples, Fluorene and Phenanthrene. Compared with the fish, the proportion of high ring PAH was higher in the mollusk, which Fluorene and Phenanthrene made a great contribution to total PAHs. The composition of PAHs in the shrimps was different from the fish and mollusk, but the comparative proportion of low ring PAHs and high ring PAHs was close. In all, PAHs gave relatively stable composition in the same organisms, and the difference between different organisms might be related to the living habit, environment and the ability of concentrate different PAHs.The level of OCPs was highest in the fish, the shrimp followed, and the mollusk got the lowest. The four isomers of HCHs were detected in over 90% samples. The ratio ofβ-HCH/HCH was higher than the pollution source because of its stability in the environment. According to the ratio of (DDE+DDD)/DDT, the DDT in the organisms mainly came from the agricultural pollution, and degraded organisms. The concentrations of HCHs in the shrimp and the mollusk were irregular. As there was not reference to the DDT in some stations, it varied little in the same organisms. That is, besides the environment factor, the concentration and composition of OCPs in the organisms were related to the physiological function.