Occurrence, trophic magnification and potential risk of short-chain chlorinated paraffins in coral reef fish from the Nansha Islands, South China Sea

Wenjing Wang; Jun Wang; Huayue Nie; Rui Fan; Yumei Huang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140084

Occurrence, trophic magnification and potential risk of short-chain chlorinated paraffins in coral reef fish from the Nansha Islands, South China Sea

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Oct 15:739:140084. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140084. Epub 2020 Jun 9.

Authors

Wenjing Wang¹, Jun Wang², Huayue Nie¹, Rui Fan¹, Yumei Huang³

Affiliations

¹ Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
² Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. Electronic address: wangjun2016@scau.edu.cn.
³ Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou 510642, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. Electronic address: huangyumei@scau.edu.cn.

PMID: 32554110
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140084

Abstract

As emerging persistent organic pollutants in marine environment, short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) have attracted increasing attentions recently. Coral reefs are important ocean ecosystems. However, data on SCCP pollution in the coral reef regions is still unavailable. In the present work, bioaccumulation of SCCPs in the coral reef ecosystems was reported for the first time. SCCP concentrations in coral reef fish from the Nansha Islands of the South China Sea were in the range of 37.9-25,400 ng/g lipid weight (lw) (average: 4400 ± 6590 ng/g lw; median: 1020 ng/g lw). C₁₀ SCCPs were the dominating SCCP homologues, accounting for 59% to 80% of the total SCCPs (average: 70 ± 5.0%), followed by C₁₁ SCCPs (average: 23 ± 4.5%). Regarding chlorine substitution, SCCPs were dominated by Cl₇ SCCPs (average: 45 ± 2.5%) and Cl₈ SCCPs (average: 30 ± 5.4%). Trophic magnification factor (TMF) of total SCCPs was 8.5, indicating trophic magnification potential of SCCPs in the coral reef ecosystems. In addition, a parabolic relationship was established between TMFs and log K_ow of specific SCCP homologues. SCCP residues in the coral reef fish from the Nansha Islands of the South China Sea did not pose significant risk to human health.

Keywords: Coral reef fish; Potential risk; Short-chain chlorinated paraffins; South China Sea; Trophic magnification.

MeSH terms

Animals
China
Coral Reefs
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring
Humans
Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / analysis*
Islands
Paraffin / analysis*

Substances

Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated
Paraffin