Study On Phthalic Acid Ethers Of Environmental Hormone In Various Typical Environmental Matrices Of Shanghai

Phthalate acid esters (PAEs) are an important group of environmental hormone.It may affect human and animal on their normal endocrine system, cause reproductive,developmental and behavioral disorder, and it have “three induced effects”(carcinogenic, teratogenic, mutagenic). In recent years, with the development oftechnology and the extensive use of plastic products, it has caused a wide distributionof PAEs into water by sewage discharge, surface runoff and other approaches, andthen PAEs are adsorbed by suspended particulate matter on the sediment. Since PAEsconstantly entering the environment, it becomes one of the most prevalentcontaminants.Sixteen phthalate acid esters (DMP, DEP, DIBP, DBP, DMEP, BMPP, DEEP,DPP, DHXP, BBP, DBEP, DCHP, DEHP, DPHP, DNOP, DNP) have been studied inthis paper, which are environmental hormone, a method of determination of16PAEsin waters and sediments were discussed. This study reports the first data on theconcentrations of16phthalate esters (PAEs) in water and sediments of the principalwatersheds in Shanghai City (including Huangpu River, Suzhou Creek and YunzaoCreek).Phthalate acid esters are mostly colorless transparent oily liquid, difficult todissolve in water, so concentration of PAEs are low in surface water. With thedevelopment of plastics industry and widespread use of plastic products, PAEs havebeen detected in water. The main contents and relevant conclusions of this paper onwater samples are as follows:(1) A method has been developed for the detection of16Phthalate Esters (PAEs)in sediment samples by Solid Phase Extraction(SPE) and gas chromatography-massspectrometry (GC/MS). This method has been demonstrated by real data, it has highprecision and accuracy.(2) This study reported the pollution levels, spatial and seasonal distributions andpotential pollution sources of PAEs in the water from principal watersheds of Shanghai (including Huangpu River, Suzhou Creek and Yunzao Creek) for the firsttime. This paper analyzed the reason of the different concentration in different season.The results showed that PAEs were ubiquitous in riverine environment ofShanghai. Compared to other global studies, it could be found that the levels of PAEsin water were relativly lower, while DIBP, DBP and DEHP were relatively high.During the last two quarters, The high concentration appear in these areas, such as S1,S5, H9, etc, all of these sampling site in the region are well developed at the industrylevels and frequent human activities. Meanwhile, the research shows that July athigher than December concentration, because of frequent rains and surface runoff.The trend is probably strongest in the district where crowds congregate. Away fromdowntown, it didn’t appear to be much different from two quarters samples. Thissuggests that the source of PAEs in water were industrial emission and anthropogenicrubbish. With the Environmental Risk Levels, PAEs were estimated to pose no hazardin water at present.Sediment is an important carrier and end-result of Phthalate acid esters, PAEsconcentration of sediment as an important organic pollution target for water pollutionlevel is used to evaluate the water quality. The main contents and relevant conclusionsof this paper on sediment samples are as follows:(1) A method has been developed for the detection of16Phthalate Esters (PAEs)in sediment samples by Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) and gaschromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Variables affecting the extractionefficiency such as the extraction temperature and extraction solvents of the extractionwere studied and optimized, and compare Accelerated Solvent Extraction withSoxhlet Extraction.(2) This study unveiled the pollution levels, spatial and seasonal distributionsand potential pollution sources of PAEs in the sediment from principal watersheds ofShanghai (including Huangpu River, Suzhou Creek and Yunzao Creek) for the firsttime. Furthermore, Pearson correlation coefficients (two-tailed) for PAEsconcentrations and TOC in sediment samples was discussed. At last, the potentialecological risk caused by PAEs was also studied in this study, which supplied important scientific basis for controlling the discharge of PBDEs and protecting thelocal ecological environment.The results showed that dichloromethane-hexane mixture displays the bestextraction performance among the three employed solvents,80°C is the bestextraction temperature. Compared with Soxhlet extraction method, not only did theefficiency of ASE was generally better than Soxhlet, but reduced solvent consumption.The concentration in the sediment samples were higher than in water samples, Andthe two has similar characteristics, but there was little seasonal variation, whichindicated PAEs in sediment came from many year’s accumulate. Spearman correlationcoefficient test and pricipal component analysis showed that TOC in sediment hasalmostly no affect on distribution, transformation and fate of PAEs. With theEnvironmental Risk Levels, DIBP and DBP were estimated to pose no hazard insediment at present, while DEHP has a weak ecological risk.