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Occurrence, spatial distribution, and fate of polycyclic musks in sediments from the catchment of Chaohu Lake, China

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Abstract

Twenty-nine surface sediments from Chaohu Lake in China and from its six main tributaries were sampled to investigate the concentrations of two important polycyclic musks (PCMs), 1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8-hexamethylcyclopenta(g)-2-benzopyran (galaxolide, HHCB) and 7-acetyl-1,1,3,4,4,6-hexamethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene (tonalide, AHTN), as well as the concentration of 4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8-hexamethylcyclopenta(g)-2-benzopyran-1-one (galaxolidon, HHCB-lactone), which is the main degradation product of HHCB. Except for the high concentrations of AHTN and HHCB measured in the Nanfei River (879 ng/g dw and 5,513 ng/g dw, respectively), the levels of AHTN and HHCB in the river sediments were 7.08–44.9 ng/g dw and 20.6–268 ng/g dw, respectively, which are slightly lower than those documented in various areas worldwide. The concentrations of AHTN and HHCB in the sediments of Chaohu Lake were one or two orders of magnitude lower than those in the tributary rivers and showed a clear regional distribution. The concentrations of HHCB-lactone were comparable to those of HHCB and presented a significant positive correlation with the concentrations of HHCB, suggesting that the HHCB-lactone originated directly from the degradation of HHCB in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) or in the natural environment. The diagnostic ratios of HHCB/AHTN and HHCB-lactone/HHCB and the enantiomeric fractions (EFs) of these PCMs showed that the direct origins of the target PCMs in the study area were municipal and industrial wastewaters discharged from adjacent cities or point sources and that the HHCB-lactone in sediment originated from the natural degradation of HHCB in the rivers and the lake. The results of the risk assessment showed that the PCMs in the watershed sediments were unlikely to pose a threat to aquatic species. However, the effluents of industrial and municipal wastewaters that are discharged into the Nanfei River should be investigated in future research.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Local Innovative and Research Teams Project of Guangdong Pearl River Talents Program (2017BT01Z134), the National Science Foundation of China (41473100), the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (QYZDJ-SSW-DQC018-02), and the Guangdong Foundation for Program of Science and Technology Research (grant no. 2017B030314057). This is contribution No.IS-3082 from GIGCAS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environment Protection and Resource Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Boyang Tian, Shutao Gao, Xiangying Zeng & Zhiqiang Yu

  2. CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Boyang Tian, Shutao Gao, Xiangying Zeng & Zhiqiang Yu

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Boyang Tian

  4. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Beijing, 100012, China

    Shouliang Huo

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  1. Boyang Tian
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Tian, B., Gao, S., Huo, S. et al. Occurrence, spatial distribution, and fate of polycyclic musks in sediments from the catchment of Chaohu Lake, China. Environ Monit Assess 193, 727 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-09532-x

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