Levels and Distribution of Organophosphate Esters (OPEs) in Typical Megacity Wetland Park Landscape Water Bodies in Southwest China

• Published in: Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology 2022, Vol.82 (1), p.11-20
• Main Authors: Yin, Hongling, Liu, Liya, Liu, Qin, Song, Jiaojiao, Fang, Shuhong, Liu, Xiaowen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: China; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental conditions; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Esters; Flame Retardants - analysis; Humans; Megacities; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Organophosphates; Particulate matter; Phosphate; Pollutants; Pollution; Sediment samplers; Sediments; Soil Science & Conservation; Surface water; Water; Wetlands
• ISSN: 0090-4341; 1432-0703
• DOI: 10.1007/s00244-021-00899-z

Human activities have led to the release of organophosphate esters (OPEs) into the environment. This study aims to investigate the levels and partitioning of OPEs in surface water, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments of landscape waters across eleven parks in the city of Chengdu, a megacity in Southwest China. The average concentration of Σ 6 OPEs in the SPM samples (median: 2.94 × 10 3  ng/L, 6.88 × 10 4  ng/g dry weight) was 1–3 orders of magnitude higher than that in the surface water (median: 359 ng/L) and sediment (median: 82.8 ng/g) samples. Tri-n-butyl phosphate (TnBP), tris-(2-chloroethyl)-phosphate (TCEP) and trichloropropyl phosphate (TCIPP) were the primary OPE pollutants in the surface water and SPM samples, while TnBP, tris-(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBEP) and tris-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP) predominated the sediment samples. The higher log K oc values of OPEs in park landscape water bodies estimated in the present study relative to previous studies could be explained by the environmental conditions, such as the sources of the inputs and the hydraulic retention times in these surface waters. Graphical abstract