Graduate School of Agriculture, Saga University, Japan.
Department of Development and Environmental Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Japan.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2019 Aug;145:81-87. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.031. Epub 2019 May 21.
In the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and accompanying tsunami struck the Tohoku region of Japan. The tsunami washed away old equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) stored in the region's factories, and these PCBs may have leaked out of their casings into the marine environment. In this study, we evaluate marine PCB contamination by comparing mussels collected before (in 2005) and after (June 2011) the tsunami. PCB contamination levels were significantly elevated in mussel samples collected after the tsunami in June 2011 (3 months after the tsunami). This indicates that PCBs (specifically, formulation KC-400) leaked out of old equipment swept away by the tsunami and accumulated in mussels. PCBs were estimated to have an environmental half-life (EHL) in mussels of 4 months. Our results show that an earthquake and subsequent tsunami can cause elevated PCB contamination in the marine environment.
在 2011 年 3 月 11 日的东日本大地震中，9.0 级地震和随之而来的海啸袭击了日本东北地区。海啸冲走了该地区工厂中储存的旧设备，其中可能含有多氯联苯 (PCBs)，这些 PCBs 已从外壳中泄漏到海洋环境中。在这项研究中，我们通过比较海啸前后（2005 年和 2011 年 6 月）采集的贻贝来评估海洋 PCB 污染。2011 年 6 月海啸后采集的贻贝样本中 PCB 污染水平显著升高（海啸发生后 3 个月）。这表明海啸冲走的旧设备中的 PCBs（具体为 KC-400 配方）泄漏并在贻贝中积累。估计 PCBs 在贻贝中的环境半衰期（EHL）为 4 个月。我们的结果表明，地震和随后的海啸会导致海洋环境中 PCB 污染升高。
