Altitude Distributions and Source Analysis of OCPs and PCBs in Surface Soils of Changbai Mountain, Northeast China.

Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in surface soils of Changbai Mountain, Northeastern China, have been quantified by gas chromatography with electron capture detector and the altitude distributions and possible pollution sources were analyzed. The concentrations of ∑HCHs, ∑DDTs and ∑7PCBs were in the range of 3.09-25.6, 0.96-19.4 and 7.32-26.1 ng/g dw, respectively. The concentration of α-HCH, ß-HCH, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE, PCB 101, 138, 153, and 180 showed increasing trends with altitude. ∑7PCBs in surface soils of Changbai Mountain were significantly higher than that in Chinese background areas. The concentration of lower volatile PCB isomers showed positive correlation with altitude. These pollutants may originate from the adjacent industrial and agricultural areas via atmospheric transport and cold-trapping effect through wet precipitation. Additional, DDTs may cause a certain potential ecological risks on birds and soil organisms and the usage of lindane in the adjacent areas cannot be excluded in Changbai Mountain.

Levels and seasonal variations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the urban atmosphere of Beijing, China.

Year-round air samples were collected at Beijing on a weekly basis from 2009 to 2010, to determine the levels, gas-particle distribution, seasonal variations and compositional profiles of 8 polybrominated diphenyl ether congeners. The annual mean atmospheric concentrations of ∑7PBDEs and BDE-209 were 6.16 pg/m(3)(N.D-23.6 pg/m(3)) and 164 pg/m(3) (30.7-454 pg/m(3)), respectively. The results showed wide consumption of industrial products containing commercial deca-BDE mixtures in Beijing. The seasonal variations showed that lower brominated congeners had higher levels and greater proportions in the gaseous phase at warm sampling periods than the higher brominated counterparts.

Contamination level of T-2 and HT-2 toxin in cereal crops from Aba area in Sichuan Province, China.

The contamination level of T-2 and HT-2 toxin in cereal crops from Aba area in Sichuan Province of China was investigated by rapid liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The results revealed the high incidence of T-2 and HT-2 toxin and relatively low contamination level in the samples. The incidence of HT-2 toxin was 49.74% and its average level was 3.746 µg/kg. The incidence of toxin was 11.64% and the average level was 0.565 µg/kg. The maximum of T-2 and HT-2 toxin concentration was 3.332 and 34.510 µg/kg, respectively. In addition, contaminated samples not only included homegrown products, but included external purchased rice and flour, which may be attributed to bad storage environment and sanitary conditions.

Multi-medium distributions of HCHs, DDTs, and PCBs in typical petrochemical industrial area and surrounding regions of Jilin Province, Northeast China.

The levels of DDTs, HCHs and PCBs in topsoil, cereal and irrigation water from typical industrial and agricultural areas of Jilin Province in Northeastern China were evaluated by using gas chromatography coupled with an electron capture detector. The amount of ∑OCPs and ∑(7)PCBs found in topsoils ranged from 24.7 to 98.0 and 17.2 to 98.7 ng g(-1), respectively. The geometric means of ∑HCHs, ∑DDTs and ∑(7)PCBs in rice stem samples were 28.9, 32.4 and 49.0 ng g(-1), respectively. The average level of total OCPs concentration in rice field water in Meihekou area (0.849 ng g(-1)) is higher than that in Jilin area (0.178 ng g(-1)) and all OCPs concentrations in rice field water met the water quality standards for Grade I regulated by China's national environmental quality standard of surface water.