Occurrence, source, and transfer fluxes of organophosphate esters in the South Pacific and Fildes Peninsula, Antarctic

Ruijing Li; Hui Gao; Chao Hou; Jie Fu; Tengda Shi; Zilan Wu; Shuaichen Jin; Ziwei Yao; Guangshui Na; Xindong Ma

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164263

Occurrence, source, and transfer fluxes of organophosphate esters in the South Pacific and Fildes Peninsula, Antarctic

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Oct 10:894:164263. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164263. Epub 2023 Jun 12.

Authors

Ruijing Li¹, Hui Gao¹, Chao Hou², Jie Fu³, Tengda Shi⁴, Zilan Wu¹, Shuaichen Jin¹, Ziwei Yao¹, Guangshui Na⁵, Xindong Ma¹

Affiliations

¹ National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian, 116023, China.
² College of Marine Environment and Ecology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; NCS Testing Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing 100081, China.
³ College of Marine Environment and Ecology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China.
⁴ College of Marine Technology and Environment, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian 116023, China.
⁵ Laboratory for Coastal Marine Eco-environment Process and Carbon Sink of Hainan Province/Yazhou Bay Innovation Institute, Hainan Tropical Ocean University, Sanya 572022, China; College of Marine Environment and Ecology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China. Electronic address: nags@hntou.edu.cn.

PMID: 37315614
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164263

Abstract

Concentrations of 11 organophosphate esters (OPEs) were investigated in surface water and atmosphere samples collected from the South Pacific and Fildes Peninsula. TEHP and TCEP were the dominant OPEs in South Pacific dissolved water, with concentration range of nd-106.13 ng/L and 1.06-28.97 ng/L, respectively. The total concentration of ∑₁₀OPEs in the South Pacific atmosphere was higher than that in Fildes Peninsula, ranging from 216.78 to 2033.97 pg/m³ and 161.83 pg/m³, respectively. TCEP and TCPP were the most dominant OPEs in the South Pacific atmosphere, while TPhP was the most prevalent in the Fildes Peninsula. The air-water exchange flux of ∑₁₀OPEs at the South Pacific was 0.04-3.56 ng/m²/day, with a transmission direction of evaporation totally determined by TiBP and TnBP. The atmospheric dry deposition dominated the transport direction of OPEs between air and water, with an flux of Σ₁₀OPEs at 10.28-213.62 ng/m²/day (mean: 85.2 ng/m²/day). The current transport flux of OPEs through the Tasman Sea to the ACC (2.65 × 10⁴ kg/day) was significantly higher than the dry deposition flux over the Tasman Sea(493.55 kg/day), indicating the Tasman Sea's importance as a transport pathway for OPEs from low latitude areas to the South Pacific. Principal component analysis and air mass back-trajectory analysis provided evidence of terrestrial inputs from human activities that have impacted the environment in the South Pacific and the Antarctic.

Keywords: Fildes peninsula; Organophosphate esters; Source; South Pacific; Transport flux.