Distribution and partition of phthalate esters in water phase, pore water and sediments from Chongqing section of the Yangtze River
长江重庆段两江水相、间隙水和沉积物中邻苯二甲酸酯的分布与分配

The distribution and partition characteristics of five phthalate esters (PAEs) in water phase, pore water and sediment from Chongqing Section of the Yangtze River were investigated. The total PAE concentration ranged from 53.2 to 343.0 ng·L-1 in water phase, from 916.8 to 7517.1 ng·L-1 in pore water and from 1787.0 to 5045.9 ng·g-1 in sediments. PAEs concentration in pore water was much higher than that in the water phase. Generally, PAE pollution in Jialing tributary was more serious than that in the Yangtze mainstream. DBP and DEHP were the main pollutants in water column and sediments, and they were obviously enriched in pore water. Concentrations of DBP and DEHP in water phase were both lower than the China Environmental Quality Standards for surface water. Clay content in sediments was the primary factor affecting PAEs distribution while organic matter content had less effect. Results of PAEs partition between sediment solid phase and pore water phase showed that there was no correlation between lgKoc and lgKow of PAEs. When the partitioning of DBP concentration between measured sediment and the surrounding pore water tended to be close to equilibrium, DMP and DEP both had strong trends from sediment to pore water phase and the opposite tendency was significant for DEHP. As compared to the results from other studies, the PAE concentrations of the study region were in a low-to-medium level.