Evidence for in situ production of chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on tidal flats: Environmental monitoring and laboratory scale experiment

This study investigated environmental distributions and production mechanisms of chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (CI-PAHs) in the sediments from some tidal flats located in Asia. CI-PAHs were found in sediments taken from Arao tidal flat, Kikuchigawa River and Shirakawa River. The range of Sigma CI-PAHs was from 25.5 to 483 pg g(-1) for Kikuchigawa River and Arao tidal flat, respectively. Concentrations of PAHs and CI-PAHs showed no significant correlations (r = 0.134). This result suggests that the origins of these compounds differ. In the identified CI-PAH isomers, the most abundant CI-PAH isomer was 9,10-dichloroanthracene (9,10-di-CI-ANT) in the three sites. In general, concentrations of CI-ANTs in the coastal environment are about 3-5 orders of magnitude lower than those of anthracene (ANT). However, concentration ratios between CI-ANTs and ANT (CI-ANTs/ANT) in the sediments ranged from 4.1% to 24.6%. This result indicated that CI-PAHs were not generated under industrial processes but the high concentration ratios have resulted from the contribution of photochemical production of CI-ANTs in the sediments because ANT is known to have high photochemical reactivity. For examining this phenomenon, ANT adsorbed onto glass beads was irradiated with UV under the mimicked field conditions of tidal flats. As a result, it was noticed that, while chlorinated derivatives were negligible in a light-controlled group, production of 2-CI-ANT, 9-CI-ANT and 9,10-diCI-ANT on the irradiated surface were found in this study. These results suggest that photochemical reaction of PAHs can be a potential source of the occurrence of CI-PAHs in the coastal environment. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.