Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed to elucidate the distribution, ecological risk, pathways, and fluxes of these pollutants in and around the Seto Inland Sea, an industrialized coastal region of Japan. High molecular weight PAHs (5–6 rings) were primarily found in regions close to the bay estuaries, and their proportions decreased at distances further from the estuaries (offshore areas), where low molecular weight PAHs (2–4 rings) were more ubiquitous. Screening-level risk assessments revealed that the PAHs found in the sediments should have no adverse effects on benthic communities. A mass balance for PAHs in the Seto Inland Sea, calculated based on data collected in the field and published literature findings, showed the PAH flux into the Seto Inland Sea from atmospheric deposition were ca. 6 times higher than that from riverine inflows. Comparison of the amount of the PAH mass flux between the Seto Inland Sea and the sea of the Europe and Asian countries indicated that the Seto Inland Sea is less polluted than the Gulf of Lion, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Bohai Sea, China and more polluted than the Yellow Sea. This paper is the first to determine the fluxes of PAHs in the coastal region of Japan.
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Acknowledgements
Authors acknowledge Professor Satoshi Chiba (Faculty of Environmental and Information Sciences, Yokkaichi University) for providing valuable information on the mass balance of PAHs. The authors appreciate Associate Professor Satoshi Asaoka (Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University) for allowing us to use the HR-type core sampler to collect sediment core samples. The authors thank Ms. Momoko Kubota (Natural Science Center for Basic Research and Development, Hiroshima University) for support with the analysis of the OC content in sediment samples. The authors thank all the crew members of the R/V Toyoshio–maru, Hiroshima University. The authors thank the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for their funding for this work (KAKENHI grant number 16KT0149). We also thank Suzanne Adam, PhD, from Edanz Group (https://en-author-services.edanz.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.
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This work was financed by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KAKENHI Grant Number 16KT0149).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Hiroaki Tsuji, Yuta Akiyoshi, Daichi Asakawa, Shinya Nakashita, Yoko Iwamoto, Hiroshi Sakugawa, and Kazuhiko Takeda. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hiroaki Tsuji, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Tsuji, H., Akiyoshi, Y., Asakawa, D. et al. Dynamics and Mass Balance of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in and Around the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 82, 467–480 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-022-00919-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-022-00919-6