RP1 Environmental Changes in Response to China's Economic Expansion
Thursday, 17 November 2005: 8:00 AM - 6:30 PM in Exhibit Hall

(WAN-1117-818082) The evolvement of environmental quality-----historical and current status of PAHs contamination in Xiamen (China).

Wang, X¹, Hong, H¹, ¹ State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Environmental Science Research Center, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, P.R.China

ABSTRACT- Xiamen city is one of the earliest special economic zones established in China at the beginning of the reformation of society and economy during 1980s, which is located in the southeast of China with a strait to Taiwan. With the economic development and GDP growth rapidly, Xiamen is under increasing pollution pressure for many foreign toxic compounds charged into the air and water from the human activities such as municipal, industrial and agricultural operations. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) possess toxic characteristics, and can cause significant adverse health or environmental effects on marine organisms and even on human. However, due to their chemical complexity, trace levels of present and toxic in the environment, public little knows about their biogeochemical behavior and effects in the coastal environment. The Chinese government has not taken the monitoring of PAHs (except Benzo(a)pyrene, the most toxic in PAHs) fully into the environmental management system.now. In this paper, the history and current status of PAHs in marine coastal environment was assessed; including air (aerosol), seawater, sediment and marine organisms around Xiamen island including Jiulong river estuary and Xiamen Western Harbour. The sources, distribution and variation processes of PAHs in the marine environment were discussed. In order to construct the time trends of PAHs in this region, the concentrations in sediment cores were also analyzed, and the deposition rates were determined using 210Pb-226Ra. The evolvement of environmental quality in Xiamen was evaluated in the final.

Key words: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, contamination, status, Xiamen