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Distribution and ecological risk assessment of organochlorine pesticides in sediments from four lakes of Heilongjiang Province, China

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Abstract

There is growing concern for the lake environment because polluted sediments may cause ecotoxicological effects. In the current study, persistent organochlorine compounds (OCPs), including hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and cyclodienes, were analyzed in core sediments taken from Huoshaohei Lake, Xihulu Lake, Wanghua Lake and Keqin Lake, Heilongjiang Province, China. The total OCPs concentrations ranged from 0.92 to 7.09, 0.15 to 9.95, 0.19 to 1.84 and 0.06 to 3.52 ng/g, respectively. The most dominant pollutants were the HCHs, high proportions of γ-HCH isomer indicating the recent input of lindane. The ratios of α-HCH/γ-HCH of four lakes are all lower than that in technical HCH mixtures indicating that there was input of lindane in the past several years, and the mean ratios of (DDE+DDD)/DDTs are all <0.5, suggesting recent release of DDT compounds. Compared with the corresponding ecological environmental quality guidelines from Ingersoll and base on the model of risk based corrective action environmental health risk assessment, the sediments from the four lakes poses a lower potential hazard to human health and the environment but still should be taken into account.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the key National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41030743), the Science and Technology Innovative Programs Foundation of Higher Education of Heilongjiang Province of China (No. 2010td10), the key Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province of China (No. ZD201308), and the Doctoral Innovation Foundation of Harbin Normal University (No. HSDBSCX2012-06). We also thank Dr. Richard S. Halbrook for proofreading our English.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Monitoring of Geographic Environment, College of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin Normal University, No. 1 South Shida Road, Limin Economic Development Zone, Harbin, 150025, Heilongjiang, People’s Republic of China

    Hongkuan Hui & Shuying Zang

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  1. Hongkuan Hui
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  2. Shuying Zang
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Correspondence to Shuying Zang.

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Hui, H., Zang, S. Distribution and ecological risk assessment of organochlorine pesticides in sediments from four lakes of Heilongjiang Province, China. Ecotoxicology 23, 601–608 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1184-z

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