Abstract

Butyltin compounds (BTs), namely tributyltin (TBT), dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT), were measured in surface and core sediments collected in 2001 inside Seogwipo Harbor, in order to evaluate their distribution characteristics. Seogwipo Harbor is one of major harbors of Jeju Island where a lot of shipping occurs and is designated as a trade port by the Korea Maritime and Port Law. BTs were detected in surface and core sediments of all stations and their concentrations in surface sediments were low, compared with to those in other sites of domestic and foreign countries. The main species among BTs was MBT, although there was a little difference with a survey site in surface sediments and in core sediments with depth. No or low correlations were obtained between organic matter or particles size of surface and core sediments and total BTs, indicating that these factors did not affect the distribution of BTs. It was estimated that more complex factors including BTs loads and surrounding sedimentary environments, affect the distribution of BTs. The high correlations between BTs indicated that DBT and MBT were mainly degraded from TBT based on antifouling paints of vessel etc. and other sources, such as DBT and MBT, could be ignored. The butyltin degradation indices ([DBT]+[MBT]/[TBT]) in surface sediments were in the range of (mean 3.0), indicating that the parent compound, TBT, were inflowed into the surface sediments a long years ago, degraded and deposited. The sedimentation age of BTs contaminated core sediments could not estimated because the content of activity were nearly all the same and so the sedimentation rate could not obtained.

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