Distribution and Human Risk Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in Marine Sediments and Seafood from Gunsan Coast of Korea

Abstract

Distributions of 16 PAHs and 82 PCBs (including dioxin-like PCBs, DL-PCBs, and non-dioxin-like PCBs, NDL-PCBs) were investigated in sediment and seafood samples collected from the Gunsan coast, Korea. Total PAH (Σ16PAH) concentrations in sediments were in a range of 0.09~108 (mean: 57.9) ng/g-dry and gradually decreased outwardly. PAHs in marine sediments were originated from both combustion processes and petroleum sources. The total PCB (Σ82PCB) concentrations in sediments were in a range of nd (not detected)-0.64 (mean: 0.27) ng/g-dry, and DL-PCB (Σ12 dioxin-like PCB) were in a range of nd-0.293 (mean 0.054) pg-TEQ/g-dry. DL-PCB concentrations were correlated with NDL-PCB concentrations. In this study, the concentrations of PAHs and PCBs in marine sediments did not exceed the ecotoxicological values. Total PAH concentrations ranged from nd to 24.3 (mean: 5.35) ng/g-wet, benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) was not detected in seafood samples and the concentrations of Σ4PAH (BaP, chrysene, benzo[a]anthracene, and benzo[b]fluoranthene; nd-18.5 ng/g-wet) were lower than the maximum level (30 ng/g-wet) set by EU. The concentrations of NDL-PCBs in seafood samples were in a range of nd-0.19 (mean: 0.08) ng/g-wet less than 1% of the EU-set maximum level. The DL-PCB concentrations were below 0.1 pg-TEQ/g-wet, less than 1% of the EU-set maximum level. Human risk assessment of PAHs and PCBs via seafood consumption was carried out, and both lifetime cancer risk and non-cancer risk were low. Key Words: PAHs, Dioxin-like PCBs, Sediment, Seafood, Human risk assessment