Trace organic contaminants in sediment and water from Ulsan Bay and its vicinity, Korea

Sediment and water samples collected from 32 locations in Ulsan Bay and adj acent inland areas were analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocabons (PAHs) , nonylphenol (NP), octylphenol (OP). bisphenol A (BPA), organochlorine (OC ) pesticides (HCB, HCHs, CHLs, and DDTs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PC Bs) to characterize their spatial distribution and contamination status. PA Hs were detected in nearly all sediment and water extracts from Ulsan Bay a nd its inland locations. The sedimentary PAH concentrations ranged from 17 to 3,100 ng/g on a dry weight basis (DW), which were predominated by two- a nd three-ring aromatic hydrocarbons in river and/or stream, and four- to si x-ring compounds in Ulsan Bay sediment. Concentrations of PAHs in pore wate r samples were generally two or three orders magnitude less than those of c orresponding sediment samples. Maximum concentrations of NP, OF, and BPA in sediments were 1,040, 120, and 54 ng/g DW, respectively. Concentrations of OP and BPA were, on average, 5- to 13-fold less than those of NP. PCB conc entrations in sediment ranged from 1.4 to 77 ng/g DW, which were predominat ed by lower chlorinated congeners such as dithrough pentachlorinated biphen yls, Among different OC pesticides analyzed, concentrations of DDTs were th e greatest, ranging from 0.02 to 41.9 ng/g DW. NP concentrations were great er at inner locations proximal to municipal wastewater discharges into rive rs and/or streams, whereas the concentrations of PCBs and PAHs were great n ear the sites of high industrial activities. Sediment-pore water partitioni ng coefficients correlated with those of reported K-oc or K-ow values for s elected PAHs in Ulsan Bay, but these varied by an order of magnitude for st ream and/or river sediments.