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Short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in agricultural and industrial soils from Shanghai, China: surface and vertical distribution, penetration behavior, and health risk assessment

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Abstract

The widespread contamination of chlorinated paraffins (CPs) of the soil environment has raised global concern due to their highly persistent and toxic properties. However, little information is available regarding these industrial toxicants' spatial-vertical distribution and penetration potentials. In this study, short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs, respectively) were analyzed in pooled surface and core soils (0–45 cm) samples collected from agricultural and industrial areas in Shanghai. ∑SCCP concentrations in agricultural and industrial surface soils ranged from 52.6 to 237.6 and 98.3 to 977.1 ng/g dry weight (dw), respectively. ∑MCCP levels were comparatively higher and ranged from 417.2 to 1690.8 and 370.9 to 10,712.7 ng/g dw in agricultural and industrial soils, respectively. C10Cl5–10 SCCPs and C14–15Cl5–7 MCCPs were the predominant homologues in all samples. Analysis of the soil vertical profiles revealed that MCCP concentrations decreased significantly with depth (P < 0.01). SCCPs more efficiently penetrated into the soils than MCCPs because of their higher water solubility and less octanol–water partition coefficient (Kow) values. A preliminary risk assessment suggested no potential health risks caused by non-dietary exposure. The daily exposure doses of CPs via ingestion were significantly (P < 0.01) higher for children (5.41 ± 2.11 × 10–3 and 1.68 ± 1.03 × 10–2 μg kg−1 day−1) and adults (2.56 ± 0.99 × 10–4 and 7.94 ± 4.87 × 10–4 μg kg−1 day−1) than dermal permeation exposure. Furthermore, CPs at current levels posed low ecological risks (0.1 ≤ RQ < 1) according to the risk quotient model. This study enhanced our understanding of the fates and behaviors of CPs in the terrestrial environment.

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Funding

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 22006010), Key Laboratory of Pollution Exposure and Health Intervention of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. 20230001), and the Zhejiang Shuren University Basic Scientific Research Start-up Funds (2021R017) and the Basic Scientific Research Special Funds (2021XZ017).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Chenye Xu, Quan Zhou, Chensi Shen & Fang Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Pollution Exposure and Health Intervention of Zhejiang Province, Interdisciplinary Research Academy (IRA), Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, 310015, China

    Chenye Xu, Shuren Liu, Shanshan Yin & Muhammad Aamir

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  1. Chenye Xu
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  2. Quan Zhou
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  4. Fang Li
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  6. Shanshan Yin
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  7. Muhammad Aamir
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Contributions

CX contributed to conceptualization, methodology, resources, investigation, data selection, writing—review and editing, visualization, and supervision. QZ contributed to methodology, validation, investigation, data curation, writing, and visualization. CS and FL performed investigation and writing—review and editing. SL performed writing—review and editing, and supervision. SY performed review, editing, and supervision. MA contributed to conceptualization, analysis, investigation, data selection, writing—review and editing, and supervision.

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Correspondence to Muhammad Aamir.

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Xu, C., Zhou, Q., Shen, C. et al. Short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in agricultural and industrial soils from Shanghai, China: surface and vertical distribution, penetration behavior, and health risk assessment. Environ Geochem Health 45, 9087–9101 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-023-01632-6

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