Spatial assessment of triazole organic compounds in surface water from the coastal estuaries to the East China sea

Shengwei Zhang; Feng Wang; Rui Wang; Minghong Cai

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121024

Spatial assessment of triazole organic compounds in surface water from the coastal estuaries to the East China sea

Environ Pollut. 2023 Mar 1:320:121024. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121024. Epub 2023 Jan 14.

Authors

Shengwei Zhang¹, Feng Wang², Rui Wang³, Minghong Cai⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai, 200030, China; State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
³ Ministry of Natural Resources Key Laboratory for Polar Science, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai, 200136, China.
⁴ School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai, 200030, China; Ministry of Natural Resources Key Laboratory for Polar Science, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai, 200136, China; Antarctic Great Wall Ecology National Observation and Research Station, Polar Research Institute of China, 1000 Xuelong Road, Shanghai, 201209, China. Electronic address: caiminghong@pric.org.cn.

PMID: 36646404
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121024

Abstract

Triazole is widely used in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and fungicides. However, triazole organic compounds are often a source of toxicity in the water environment due to the presence of chlorobenzene. This study reported on the occurrence and distribution of 15 TrOCs in the surface waters of estuaries and the East China sea, and identified the influences of TrOCs originating from the estuarine environment on the ocean. The results showed that the total concentrations of ∑TrOCs in the surface water of estuaries along the coasts of Jiangsu (JS), Zhejiang (ZJ), and Shanghai (SH), China ranged from 0.020 to 104 ng L^-1 (7.49 ± 18.2 ng L^-1), whereas they ranged from 0.235 to 1.25 ng L^-1 (mean 0.711 ± 0.235 ng L^-1) in the East China sea. Difenoconazole and tebuconazole were the dominant TrOCs in the estuaries, whereas fenbuconazole and hexaconazole dominated in the ocean. TrOCs in surface water of estuaries showed a continuous spatial distribution and presented regional characteristics mainly related to agricultural activities. In contrast, TrOCs in the East China Sea showed a low spatial variation and dispersion, which may be related to complex disturbance by currents and dilution. The low levels of estuarine TrOCs measured in SH estuaries (<0.5 ng L^-1) indicates that the Yangtze River may only pose a low-level TrOC contamination risk to the East China Sea. Moreover, estuary transport in the estuaries of ZJ may have influenced the occurrence of TrOCs in the offshore East China Sea area, although they may have also undergone a filter process in the estuary turbid zone; whereas it had little influence on the open sea. This study can act as a critical reference for the presence of TrOCs in surface water both estuaries and the ocean.

Keywords: East China sea; Estuary transport; Influencing factors; Spatial distribution; Triazole organic compounds.

MeSH terms

China
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Estuaries*
Geologic Sediments
Organic Chemicals
Rivers
Water
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Water
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Organic Chemicals