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Distribution, Congener Profile, and Risk of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and Dechlorane Plus in Water and Sediment From Two Tributaries of the Chenab River, Pakistan

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Abstract

There are a limited number of scientific reports available regarding polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and dechlorane plus (DP) screening levels and ecological risk assessment in environmental compartments. The present study was aimed to assess the screening-level risk assessment, congener-specific analysis, and spatial distribution pattern of PBDEs and DP in water and sediment. Samples were collected from upstream feeding tributaries (Nullah Aik and Nullah Palkhu) of the River Chenab, Pakistan. ∑PBDE concentrations in water and sediment ranged from 0.48 to 73.4 ng L−1 and 0.35 to 88.1 ng g−1 (dw), respectively, whereas levels of ∑DP in water and sediment were 0.01–4.58 and 0.10–12.5 ng g−1 dw, respectively. Ratio for fsyn in sediment (ng g−1) and water (ng L−1) ranged between 0.59–0.64 and 0.60–0.68, respectively, which reflected no use of industrial mixture of DP isomers in the study area. Potential risks to ecological integrities through contaminated water and sediments in the study area were deemed marginal at the present time as assessed on the basis of the available and current toxicological data. The scarcity of data on levels, source apportionment, and detected permissible limits of PBDEs and DP warrant future auxiliary study of this group of contaminants.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan for providing support under the International Research Support Initiative Program. We also express our thanks to Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. We are highly thankful to Xiandong Li (Polytechnic University, Hong Kong) for providing assistance for sample transportation to Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Guangzhou, China. The authors also acknowledge Irfan Ali Ch, who guided us to collect samples from far-flung areas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Biology Laboratory, Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

    Adeel Mahmood

  2. Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

    Riffat Naseem Malik

  3. State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Jun Li & Gan Zhang

Authors
  1. Adeel Mahmood
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  2. Riffat Naseem Malik
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  3. Jun Li
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  4. Gan Zhang
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Correspondence to Riffat Naseem Malik.

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Appendix

Appendix

Supplementary data

One table (SI Table 1), which present the basic statistics of PBDEs and DP concentrations in investigated samples from different sampling zones, is provided in the supplementary data.

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Mahmood, A., Malik, R.N., Li, J. et al. Distribution, Congener Profile, and Risk of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and Dechlorane Plus in Water and Sediment From Two Tributaries of the Chenab River, Pakistan. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 68, 83–91 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-014-0074-y

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