Organophosphorus pesticides in southeastern China marginal seas: Land-based export and ocean currents redistribution

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) have raised an increasing public concern due to their harmful impacts. To explore the occurrence and distribution of OPPs in southeastern China marginal seas (SCMS), a sampling campaign was carried out from East China Sea (ECS) to South China Sea (SCS). A total of 33 OPPs are quantified with the ΣOPPs concentrations ranging from 4.73 to 14.15 ng/L. Higher ΣOPPs concentrations in the surface seawater from the estuaries of Yangtze River, Minjiang River, and Pearl River than those at other sampling sites indicates that riverine emissions are the principal sources of OPPs in SCMS. Different compositions of OPPs in ECS and SCS highlight the different priority of use categories for OPPs in China coastal region. In addition, the vertical diffusion and upwelling ocean currents play critical roles in the redistribution of OPPs in SCMS. For the first time, the ΣOPPs mass inventories in surface seawater of ECS and SCS are estimated at 8.51 and 11.26 t, respectively. Although the current ecological risk of OPPs is at low level in surface seawater of SCMS, the long-term use and bio-accumulative potential point to the necessity for the normalized monitoring of OPPs in China.