Occurrence, profiles, and ecological risks of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in mangrove sediments of Shantou, China

Surface sediments were collected from three mangrove wetlands (Yifeng Xi, Shuanghan, and Su’ai Wan) in Shantou coastal zone of South China to investigate spatial distributions of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The results demonstrate that PBDEs were detected in all the samples, indicating their widespread occurrence in coastal sediments of the studied area. Σ 9 PBDEs (defined as the sum of nine targeted PBDE congeners except BDE-209) and BDE-209 are in the range of 2.3 to 11.5 and 16.7 to 58.2 ng/g, respectively. BDE-209 is the dominant PBDE congener in all sediment samples. The sediment concentrations of ∑ 9 PBDEs and BDE-209 among the three wetlands decrease in the order of Su’ai Wan > Shuanghan > Yifeng Xi. The concentrations of ∑ 9 PBDEs are higher in mangrove sediments than in mudflats, but no obvious regularity can be found on the correlation between mangrove species and PBDE levels in sediments. The contents of total organic carbon are moderately correlated with BDE-209 concentrations in sediments but not with ∑ 9 PBDE concentrations. The samples collected from different locations show slightly different composition profiles except BDE-209, with BDE-100 and BDE-47 being the pre-dominated congeners. The mudflats exhibit higher abundances of tri- to hexa-substituted congeners than the mangrove sediments. Ecological risk assessment demonstrates that the surface sediments from Shantou may pose a potential ecological risk of exposure to sediment-dwelling organisms.