>> Human impacts on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon distribution in Chinese intertidal zones

2020-07-07阅:475

题名:Human impacts on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon distribution in Chinese intertidal zones

来源:Nature Sustainability

发表年代:2020

作者:Min LvXiaolin LuanChunyang Liao﹡, Dongqi WangDongyan Liu﹡, Gan ZhangGuibin Jiang &Lingxin Chen﹡ 

Abstract  The intertidal zone—a transitional boundary between terrestrial and  marine environments—has important ecological functions, and receives  polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from human activities, but how  and to what extent anthropogenic factors influence the distribution of  PAHs in this important niche remain largely unknown. Here we measured  the distribution of United States Environmental Protection Agency  priority PAHs in samples of intertidal sediments from across more than  4,500 km of China’s coastline. The total PAH concentrations ranged from  2.3 to 1,031.7 ng g−1 sediment (dry weight) and all PAHs  showed positive correlations with total organic carbon (TOC).  TOC-normalized high-molecular-weight (HMW) PAH concentrations, but not  TOC-normalized low-molecular-weight (LMW) PAHs, were positively  correlated with TOC. Moreover, population size and economic development  influenced TOC-normalized HMW PAH concentrations, whereas urbanization  had a major influence on TOC-normalized LMW PAHs. Human activities also  indirectly influenced TOC-normalized PAH concentrations by affecting  TOC. In sum, our investigation provides continental-scale evidence that  human activities have key and differential effects on the distribution  and deposition of PAHs in intertidal sediments, and shows that pollution  status and profile of PAHs can be used to index regional  industrialization and urbanization status.