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Atmospheric deposition of PBDEs and DPs in Dongjiang River Basin, South China

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Abstract

The atmospheric deposition fluxes of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and Dechlorane Plus (DPs) in Dongjiang River Basin of the Pearl River Delta in South China were investigated during winter and summer, respectively. The total deposition fluxes varied from 4.74 to 27.0 ng/m2/day for PBDEs and 8.77 to 206 ng/m2/day for DPs, respectively. The fractions of anti-DP to the total DPs (f anti) varied from 0.28 to 0.63 (mean = 0.43 ± 0.06), i.e., generally lower than those in commercial products, which might be attributed to the different environmental fates of the two isomers. Significant seasonal and spatial variations of PBDEs and DPs were observed. The deposition fluxes in summer were generally higher than those in winter, which may be due to the relatively high temperature and rainfall in summer under the influence of prevailing subtropical monsoon climate. Moreover, high deposition fluxes of PBDEs and DPs in urban areas and significant urban/rural gradient implied that local industrial activities in the urban areas were primary sources, which were further confirmed by the results of principal component analysis. The highest deposition of PBDE and DP fluxes was found at different sampling sites, suggesting PBDEs and DPs may be derived from different industries or products.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21307133) and the Knowledge Innovative Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-YW-Q02-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (MOE), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Xiaowei Wu, Yan Wang, Minmin Hou & Hongxia Zhao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Chunling Luo & Gan Zhang

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  1. Xiaowei Wu
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  2. Yan Wang
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  3. Minmin Hou
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  4. Chunling Luo
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  5. Hongxia Zhao
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  6. Gan Zhang
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Correspondence to Yan Wang.

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Responsible editor: Constantini Samara

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Wu, X., Wang, Y., Hou, M. et al. Atmospheric deposition of PBDEs and DPs in Dongjiang River Basin, South China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 3882–3889 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-8082-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-8082-2

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