Abstract
The production and use of intentionally-produced polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in China have a short history compared with countries of North America and Europe, where technical PCB mixtures were manufactured in large amounts for decades before being banned. Unintentionally-produced PCB emissions increased dramatically in China, leading to unique profiles of PCB burdens. This study first time evaluated 208 individual PCB congeners at 94 sites from surface sediments of the East China Marginal Seas (ECMSs) and explored their sources. Non-technical PCBs transported from atmospheric transport and river discharge played a dominant role in most areas of the ECMSs, while historical residuals of technical PCBs occupied the fine-grained sediments in muddy areas of the central Yellow Sea (YS), regarding to the low sedimentation rate in the central YS. Furthermore, emissions from Taizhou located on the coast of the East China Sea (ECS), which is an important electronic waste dismantling site in East China, contributed additional technical PCBs to the inner shelf of the ECS. Our results indicate that non-technical PCBs have become the dominant PCB species in the ECMSs, and emphasize the synergistic effects of large riverine input, long-range atmospheric transport, and muddy shelf deposition on PCB source and sink of in marginal seas.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.