Hexabromocyclododecane and tetrabromobisphenol A in sediments and paddy soils from Liaohe River Basin, China: Levels, distribution and mass inventory
Fang Li
,
Jing Jin
,
Dongqin Tan
,
Longxing Wang
,
Ningbo Geng
,
Rong Cao
,
Yuan Gao
,
Jiping Chen
DOI:10.1016/j.jes.2016.03.018
Received October 30, 2015,Revised March 06, 2016, Accepted March 07, 2016, Available online April 28, 2016
Volume 28,2016,Pages 209-217
Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) are two kinds of brominated flame retardants and widely present in the environment and biota. The levels, spatial distributions and mass inventories of HBCD and TBBPA were investigated in sediments and paddy soils from the Liaohe River Basin in northeast China. The concentrations of ΣHBCD and TBBPA were in the range of not detected (nd) to 4.02 ng/g dry weight (dw) and 0.03 to 4.06 ng/g dw, respectively. γ-HBCD was dominated in sediments, while the abundance of α-HBCD was relatively high in paddy soils. The spatial distributions of HBCD and TBBPA in surface sediments and paddy soils indicated that the local point-input was their major source. The significant correlation between total organic carbon (TOC) contents and the HBCD levels suggested that TOC content also exerted an influence on the distribution of HBCD in sediments. Meanwhile, it was found that the irrigation with river water was not the major transportation pathway of HBCD and TBBPA in paddy soils. Based on the study, it was estimated that there were about 1.67 tons HBCD and 2.20 tons TBBPA deposited into sediments of the Liaohe River system every year. The total mass inventories of HBCD and TBBPA in sediments were far higher than that in paddy soils.
