Sediment core records and impact factors of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Chinese lakes

Yubao Xia; Yanxia Zhang; Qingsong Ji; Xinying Cheng; Xinkai Wang; Clive E Sabel; Huan He

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2023.116690

Sediment core records and impact factors of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Chinese lakes

Environ Res. 2023 Oct 15:235:116690. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116690. Epub 2023 Jul 18.

Authors

Yubao Xia¹, Yanxia Zhang², Qingsong Ji¹, Xinying Cheng¹, Xinkai Wang³, Clive E Sabel⁴, Huan He⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, PR China.
² School of Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, PR China; Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark; BERTHA - Big Data Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: yxzhang@njnu.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, PR China.
⁴ BERTHA - Big Data Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark.
⁵ School of Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, PR China; College of Ecological and Resource Engineering, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Eco-Industrial Green Technology, Wuyi University, Wuyishan, Fujian, 354300, PR China. Electronic address: huanhe@njnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37474088
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116690

Abstract

Lake sediment is a natural sink for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAH sedimentation characteristics and their impact factors of Chinese lakes have mainly been qualitative assessed. However, quantitative impacts of PAH sedimentation from different factors have not been well analyzed. To fill this gap, we screened PAH sedimentation records from the literature, for 51 lakes in China and other regions of the world, to identify historical concentration variation and the impact factors of PAHs in different regions, in lake sediment. The results show that PAH concentrations in the sediment core in the selected Chinese lakes (478 ± 812 ng/g dry weight (dw)) were significantly lower than those in North America (5518 ± 6572 ng/g dw) and Europe (3817 ± 4033 ng/g dw). From 1900 to 2015, most of the lakes in China showed an increasing trend of PAH sedimentation concentrations, with the lakes in Southeastern China showed a decreasing trend of PAH concentration in the period of 2001-2015, which was later than the peak times shown in Western countries (1941-1970). The 2-3-ring PAHs were the main components in the sediment core of Chinese lakes, but the proportion to the total PAHs decreased from 72% in 1900-1940 to 55% in 2001-2015. Generalized additive modeling (GAM) was adopted to simulate the associations between PAH sedimentation records and the impact factors. There are large regional variations of economic and industrial development in China. The impact factors of PAH accumulation in the lake sediments differ in different regions. However, population and the consumption of coal, pesticides, and fertilizer were identified to be the most important impact factors influencing PAH sedimentation. The Chinese government needs to strengthen control measures on pollutant discharge to reduce the anthropogenic impact of PAH sedimentation in lakes.

Keywords: Generalized additive models; Key factors; Lakes; PAHs; Sediment cores.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

China
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Geologic Sediments
Lakes
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons* / analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Water Pollutants, Chemical