Pollution Characteristics and Source Identification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Phthalic Acid Esters During High Water Level Periods in the Wuhan Section of the Yangtze River, China

Abstract

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been detected extensively in water and sediments in China, causing potential risks to the environment and human beings. In this study, the content level, distribution characteristics, and pollution sources of PAHs and PAEs in the water and sediments collected from 15 sites in the Wuhan section of the Yangtze River in August of 2016 were analyzed systematically. The following conclusions were made. The total PAHs concentrations were 20.8-90.4 ng·L-1 (mean value 40.7 ng·L-1) in water and 46.1-424.0 ng·g-1 (mean value 191.8 ng·g-1) in the sediments, while for PAEs, they were 280.9-779.0 ng·L-1 (mean value 538.6 ng·L-1) in water and 1346.2-7641.1 ng·g-1 (mean value 3699.5 ng·g-1) in the sediment. Both PAH and PAE concentrations in water meet the Chinese national water environmental quality standard (GB 3838-2002) with a low degree of pollution. PAH monomers with two to three rings were dominant in water, while those with two to three rings and four rings were dominant in the sediment. DEHP and DBP were the dominant PAE pollutants in both the water and sediment. The ratio and principal component analysis showed that the main source of PAHs in water and the sediment were the emission from coal, biomass combustion, and petroleum sources, while the main sources of PAEs include the plastic and chemical industries and municipal solid wastes. Two types of POPs (PAHs and PAEs) in water and sediment have potentially detrimental effects on human health and monitoring needs to be strengthened. This research provides basic data and technical support for the protection of the Yangtze River.