Historical contamination and sources of organochlorine pesticides in sediment cores from Quanzhou Bay, Southeast China

Three sediment cores were collected from the top to the mouth of Quanzhou Bay, Southeast China, in order to establish sources and historical trends of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in the region. The spatial distribution of OCPs in surface sediments implies that Quanzhou Bay received the contamination inputs not only from rivers near the shore, but also from outside the bay. The variation profiles of concentrations clearly showed that OCPs were widely used between 1960s and 1980s in China. A recent increasing trend was found in all cores despite their ban in China in 1983. Different ratios of (DDD + DDE)/DDTs indicated that DDTs at the top of the bay were mainly derived from long-term weather soils, while DDTs near the mouth of the bay were mainly derived from fresh inputs from outside the bay. Higher percentage of γ-HCH in HCHs deposited after 1990 implies that lindane may have been used recently around Quanzhou Bay.