Sources and distribution of polychlorinated-dibenzo-p-dioxins
and -dibenzofurans in soil and sediment from the Yellow Sea
region of China and Korea
Jonathan E. Naile1, Jong Seong Khim2,*, Seongjin Hong2, Tieyu Wang3, Paul D. Jones4, Yonglong Lu3, John P. Giesy5
1Department
of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences & Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada 2Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea
University, Seoul, Korea 3State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China 4School of
Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada 5Department of Zoology, Center for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
*Corresponding
author. E-mail: jongseongkhim@korea.ac.kr (J.S. Khim). Presenter. E-mail: jen394@mail.usask.ca (J.E. Naile).
Study Area
PCDD/Fs & TEQs: South Korea vs. China
Table 1
Overview of PCDD/Fs results for soil and sediment samples collected from the
Yellow Sea.
Figure 1
Location map of soil and sediment samples collected from the rivers, lakes,
and coastal areas of the Yellow Sea.
Sources Identification of PCDD/Fs
• Both soils and sediments collected in China contained detectable
concentrations of PCDDs (80%) and PCDFs (50%).
• In Korea, most soils contained detectable concentrations of PCDDs (100%)
and PCDFs (91%).
• PCDDs found to be greater than PCDFs in both soils and sediments.
• Overall, soil and sedimentary PCDD/Fs were greater in Korea samples than
Chinese ones.
Figure 2
Top ten greatest TEQs of PCDD/Fs and locations
from (a) soils and (b) sediments analyzed in the
present study (K: South Korea; C: China; dotted
line: Canadian soil/sediment quality guidelines
(CCME, 2001, 2002)).
PCDD/Fs Composition: Geographical Types & Activities
Figure 3
Result of principal component analysis of individual PCDD/Fs in (a) soil and (b)
sediment samples (○) collected from Yellow Sea regions and in representative
sources (●) (aPCP: pentachlorophenol; bCNP: chloronitrophen (Masunaga et
al., 2001a); cPCP: pentachlorophenol; dPCP-Na: sodium pentachlorophenate
(Zhang et al., 2010); eMSWI-gas: municipal solid waste incinerators in China,
flue gas; fash: fly ash in China (Xu et al., 2008); gSI: small size incinerator in
Korea; hHWI: hospital waste incinerator in Korea; iIWI: industrial waste
incinerator in Korea; jMSWI in Korea (Oh et al., 1999)).
• The major group of locations clearly associated with PCP and NA-PCP
both for soil and sediment data, indicating common PCDD/Fs sources
of the Yellow Sea samples from mainly herbicides.
• Overall, the sources of PCDD/Fs in China and Korea found to be
independent of each other and their distributions reflected
local activities and matrix-dependent accumulation.
Figure 4
Relative percentage of individual PCDD/Fs congeners in soil and sediment samples according to geographical types and activities
of the Yellow Sea.
Comparison to Other Studies
a
b
• Concentrations of TEQWHO for PCDD/Fs in soil from the Yellow Sea region found to be less than
current concentrations in other locations in South Korea and Japan.
• For sediment, relatively large variations in concentrations of PCDD/Fs found in China and
South Korea with a few areas of greater concentrations (ppb levels) near more industrialized cities.
• Japanese sediments contained greater concentrations of PCDD/Fs, particularly the greatest
concentrations found in Tokyo Bay.
Research Highlight
► PCDDs were comparable or greater than PCDFs for Yellow Sea soils and sediments.
► PCDD/Fs congener patterns in soils were different but similar in sediments.
► PCDD/Fs congener patterns varied among regions reflecting regional activities.
Figure 5
Comparison of TEQs of PCDD/Fs in (a) soils and (b) sediments from this study and previous reports in South
Korea, China, and Japan
► Sources of PCDD/Fs in China and Korea were mainly independent of each other.
► ∑TEQs in the Yellow Sea soils and sediments often exceeded corresponding quality guidelines.
For more details in Environmental Pollution 159 (2011) 907-917.