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Pollution characteristics and underlying ecological risks of primary semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in urban watersheds of Shanghai, China

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Abstract

We investigated the pollution characteristics of ninety semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in the rivers and lakes of Shanghai. Total concentrations of Σ90SVOCs in water and sediment samples from 30 sites ranged from 1.47 to 19.5 μg/L and 2.38 to 9.48 mg/kg, respectively. PAEs and PAHs were the major contaminant compounds found in all samples. OCPs accounted for less than 3% of the total concentrations of Σ90SVOCs and other SVOCs were either not detected or only detected in trace amounts. Our results indicated that domestic swage, industrial wastewater, petroleum products, and other human activities were the pollutant sources to the water and sediment. It is noteworthy that products that contain the banned chemicals HCH and DDT are still under use within the studied areas. Ecological and health risk assessment results showed that dieldrin and BBP have the potential to cause adverse effects on the environment, while B(a)p and DBP have high carcinogenic risks to humans.

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Acknowledgments

The authors specially appreciate Zuyi C. Gooley from Southern Illinois University for English language polishing.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41573096) and Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (No. IRT_17R71).

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Author notes

  1. Hai-yang Shao and Zhou-chong Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, People’s Republic of China

    Hai-yang Shao, Zhou-chong Zhang, Gang Xu, Liang Tang & Ming-hong Wu

  2. Key Laboratory of Organic Compound Pollution Control Engineering (MOE), Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, People’s Republic of China

    Zhou-chong Zhang & Liang Tang

  3. Information Technology Office, School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai, 200444, People’s Republic of China

    Jian-fei Chai

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  1. Hai-yang Shao
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  4. Gang Xu
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Shao, Hy., Zhang, Zc., Chai, Jf. et al. Pollution characteristics and underlying ecological risks of primary semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in urban watersheds of Shanghai, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 27708–27720 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08528-3

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