Tetrabromobisphenol A and hexabromocyclododecane in sediments from the Zhujiang(Pearl) River Estuary and South China Sea

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.

Short-term metal accumulation and MTLP induction in the digestive glands of Perna virdis exposed to Zn and Cd

Time-dependent Zn and Cd accumulation and metallothionein like protein （MTLP） induction in the digestive glands of mussels, Perna virdis, were measured under different exposure conditions. The initial uptake rate at start of chase （ρ0） and mean residence time （τ） were calculated to determine the physiological response of organisms and their potential detoxification mechanisms. It was found that in digestive glands, Zn had obviously higher ρ0 and shorter mean residence time than Cd, indicating that these two metals had different accumulation dynamics even though they were very close in the periodic element table. MTLP levels in digestive glands varied from 0.51 to 1.05 μg/g ww （wet weight）. The MTLP level increased continuously when mussels were exposed to low and middle levels of Zn and Cd media, and reached maximal levels at day 4, then decreased when they were exposed to high level Zn and Cd solutions. With regard to the fraction of Zn and Cd accumulated in the digestive glands, the ratios of soluble metal to total metal decreased continuously after exposure in low and middle levels of Zn and Cd media, and decreased continuously in the first 4 days and then to level off when mussels were exposed to media with high concentration of Zn and Cd. Results suggested that both MTLP induction and metal insolubilization were detoxification processes in digestive glands of mussels.