Coastal waters Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) Coastal zones Concentration Ethers Fish Water pollution organochlorine derivative Malaysia Philippines Southeast Asia Viet Nam
Issue Date:
2007
Publisher:
Environmental Science and Technology
Citation:
Volume: 41, Issue: 13, Page : 4580-4586
Abstract:
Mussel samples were used in this study to measure the levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers
(PBDEs) and organochlorines (OCs) in the coastal waters of Asian countries like Cambodia, China, Hong
Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. PBDEs were detected in all
the samples analyzed, and the concentrations ranged from 0.66 to 440 ng/g lipid wt. Apparently higher
concentrations of PBDEs were found in mussels from the coastal waters of Korea, Hong Kong, China, and
the Philippines, which suggests that significant sources of these chemicals exist in and around this region.
With regard to the composition of PBDE congeners, BDE-47, BDE-99, and BDE-100 were the dominant
congeners in most of the samples. Among the OCs analyzed, concentrations of DDTs were the highest
followed by PCBs > CHLs > HCHs > HCB. Total concentrations of DDTs, PCBs, CHLs, and HCHs in
mussel samples ranged from 21 to 58 000, 3.8 to 2000, 0.93 to 900, and 0.90 to 230 ng/g lipid wt.,
respectively. High levels of DDTs were found in mussels from Hong Kong, Vietnam, and China; PCBs were
found in Japan, Hong Kong, and industrialized/urbanized locations in Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and
India; CHLs were found in Japan and Hong Kong; HCHs were found in India and China. These countries
seem to play a role as probable emission sources of corresponding contaminants in Asia and, in turn, may
influence their global distribution. ?? 2007 American Chemical Society.