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Distribution and risk assessment of phthalates in water and sediment of the Pearl River Delta

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Abstract

Phthalate esters (PAEs) are widely used industrial raw materials that are well known for their environmental contamination and toxicological effects as “endocrine disruptors.” In this study, environmental levels of PAEs and eco-toxicological risk assessments were determined in the eight estuaries of the Pearl River (Estuaries), main upstream tributary (Xijiang River), urban river network (River network), and nature reserve reservoir (Reservoirs). Water and sediment samples from the above water systems were collected during the low-water period (May) and the high-water period (August) between 2012 and 2014. Solid phase and ultrasonic methods were used to extract 14 different PAEs that were analyzed by gas chromatography. The analytical average recovery of PAEs in water and sediment was 75.4% ± 4.9% and 121.5% ± 8.9%, respectively. The results showed that PAEs were detected in all of the samples, and the di-n-butyl phtalate (DBP) and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) monomers had a detection rate of 100% in water. Similarly, in sediment samples, the detection rates of diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP), DBP, dimethoxyethyl phthalate (DMEP), BBP, di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP), and DNP ranged from 66.7 to 100%. Among these, in sediment samples, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and phthalic acid bis(2-butoxyethyl) ester (DBEP) had detection rates of 95.8% to 100% in the Estuaries, Xijiang River, and River network. The concentrations of Σ14PAEs in water samples and sediments ranged from 12.95 ± 1.97 to 6717.29 ± 112.37 ng/L and 71.99 ± 8.72 to 17,340.04 ± 227.83 ng/g-dw, respectively. During the low-water period, the average concentration of Σ14PAEs in water and sediment was 1159.58 ± 97.22 ng/L and 2842.50 ± 178.21 ng/g-dw, respectively, and during the high-water period, 822.83 ± 53.19 ng/L and 1936.42 ± 111.31 ng/g-dw, respectively. In water, the average concentration of Σ14PAEs in 2013 and 2014 was 963.39 ± 19.55 ng/L and 2815.35 ± 176.32 ng/L, respectively. In sediment, the average concentrations of Σ14PAEs in 2012 to 2014 were 990.10 ± 23.33 ng/g-dw, 1084.20 ± 112.12 ng/g-dw, and 1816.89 ± 79.97 ng/g-dw, respectively, with concentrations showing an increasing trend year after year (2014 > 2013 > 2012). Potential risk assessment of water ecological, the results show that exceeding environmental risk level (ERL) value in higher molecular weight plasticizer (DEHP, DMEP, DNOP, DNP) was mainly distributed in water, the lower molecular weight plasticizer (BMP, DiBP) was mainly distributed in sediment.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions. Thanks to Yu Hongliang, Wang Chao, Yang Wanling, and Li Haiyan from the plateau for their help with this experiment, and thanks to Ms. Zhang Pengying for modifying the images in this article. We thank LetPub (www.letpub.com) for its linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the Guangdong Provincial Marine Fisheries Science and Technology Promotion Project (A201101I02) and the Guangxi Natural Science Major Project (2013GXNSFEA053003). The work is supported by the Foundation of Key Laboratory of Urban Agriculture in South China, Ministry of Agriculture, People’s Republic of China.

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  1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, People’s Republic of China

    Zhang Weizhen, Zheng Xiaowei, Gu Peng, Wang Ning, He Jian & Zheng Zheng

  2. Key Laboratory of Urban Agriculture in South China, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou, 510640, People’s Republic of China

    Zhang Weizhen

  3. Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou, 510380, People’s Republic of China

    Zhang Weizhen & Lai Zini

  4. College of Aquatic and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, People’s Republic of China

    Zhang Weizhen

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Highlights

• The concentrations of detected PAEs in sediment increased over the study period.

• The average concentrations of PAEs in water and sediment were higher during the low-water period.

• The degree of pollution within the study area decreased in the order of River network > Xijiang River > Estuaries > Reservoirs.

• Some waters have serious PAE pollution and ecological risks.

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Weizhen, Z., Xiaowei, Z., Peng, G. et al. Distribution and risk assessment of phthalates in water and sediment of the Pearl River Delta. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 12550–12565 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06819-y

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