Search

Marine sediments collected from the Zhujiang (Pearl) River Estuary (ZRE) and South China Sea (SCS) were utilized to study the occurrence and spatial distribution of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD). The levels of TBBPA and HBCDD in sediments ranged from not detected (nd) to 6.14 ng/g dry weight (dw) and nd to 0.42 ng/g dw. TBBPA concentrations in marine sediments were substantially higher than HBCDD. The concentrations of TBBPA and HBCDD in the ZRE sediments were significantly greater than those in the SCS. α-HBCDD (48.7%) and γ-HBCDD (46.2%) were the two main diastereoisomers of HBCDD in sediments from the ZRE, with minor contribution of β-HBCDD (5.1%). HBCDD were only found in one sample from the northern SCS. The enantiomeric fraction of α-HBCDD in sediments from the ZRE was obviously greater than 0.5, indicating an accumulation of (+)-α-HBCDD. The enantiomers of HBCDD were not measured in sediments from the SCS. This work highlighted the environmental behaviors of TBBPA and HBCDD in marine sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]