The occurrence and Distribution of HBCDs in Laizhou Bay of China
Ruijing Li, Guangshui Na, Hui Gao, Zihao Lu, Ziwei Yao and Chuanlin
Huo
Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas (SOA),
National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian, China.
E-mail: gsna@nmemc.org.cn
To investigate the occurrence and distribution characteristics of
Hexabromocyclododecanes
(HBCDs),
surface seawater, sediment and
organism samples were collected from the coastal area of Laizhou Bay
which was located in the southern part of Bohai Sea of China. Three
types of HBCDs isomers were analyzed by a multi-residue chemical
analysis methodology, using accelerated solvent extractor coupled with
liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The results showed
that the concentrations of HBCDs ranged from 1.71 to 3.00 ng/L in
surface seawater and from 0.88 to 10.50 ng/g (dw) in sediment samples.
By contrast, relatively high concentrations of HBCDs were found in
organism samples. The total HBCDs concentration in organism samples
was an order of magnitude higher than that in seawater and sediment
samples. Meanwhile, the same composition characteristic of HBCDs
isomers
were
observed
in
three
mediums
with
γ-HBCD>α-HBCD>β-HBCD, which was similar to that found in
commercial products. This result suggested that anthropogenic activity in
coastal areas was a statistically significant source of HBCDs in Laizhou
Bay. The percentage of three types of isomers took a similar pattern in
seawater and sediment mediums. Nevertheless, the percentage of
β-HBCD was decreased to 5% in organism samples along with increased
α-HBCD, which elucidated the selective bioaccumulation behavior of
HBCDs in organisms. In addition, the sediment-water distribution
coefficient of α-HBCD, β-HBCD and γ-HBCD was 0.92, 1.54 and 1.60,
respectively. Different adsorption ability of HBCDs isomers into the
sediments suggested the multimedia behavior of HBCDs.