Ruđer Bošković Institute, Division for Marine and Environmental Research, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia.
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Division for Marine and Environmental Research, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia.
Chemosphere. 2020 Nov;258:127307. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127307. Epub 2020 Jun 6.
This study presents a new approach for the investigation of tributyltin (TBT) behaviour and fate in the marine environment. The approach is based on a simultaneous analysis of butyltins (BuTs) and total Sn in sediments, thus enabling an assessment of long-term persistence and historical input of TBT. The study also presents first evaluation of the extent to which the TBT-antifouling paints contribute to the contamination of coastal environments with inorganic Sn; it was demonstrated that the inorganic Sn in the investigated areas primarily originates from TBT degradation. The study was conducted by analyzing BuTs and total Sn in sediments from 34 locations along the Croatian Adriatic coast. The results revealed that 85% of the locations were contaminated with both BuTs and inorganic Sn. The share of ƩBuTs/total Sn was low (<10%) even in sediments with low TBT degradation efficiency (TBT/ƩBuTs >40%), demonstrating that only small portion of TBT introduced into the water column reached the sediment before being degraded. This means that recent TBT input into the marine environment may be at least 10 times higher than the amount estimated if only BuTs levels in sediments are considered. It was also demonstrated that TBT concentration in sediments with TOC <1% is not a good indicator of the overall pollution level, even if TBT/TOC approach is used in pollution assessment. Finally, in situ investigation showed that resuspension of contaminated sediments leads to significant release of MBT and DBT into the water column, whereas TBT mainly remains in sediment.
本研究提出了一种新方法，用于研究三丁基锡（TBT）在海洋环境中的行为和归宿。该方法基于对丁基锡（BuTs）和沉积物中总锡（Sn）的同时分析，从而能够评估 TBT 的长期持久性和历史输入。该研究还首次评估了防污漆中 TBT 对沿海环境中无机 Sn 污染的程度；结果表明，研究区域的无机 Sn 主要来源于 TBT 的降解。本研究通过分析克罗地亚亚得里亚海沿岸 34 个地点的沉积物中的 BuTs 和总 Sn 进行。结果表明，85%的地点同时受到 BuTs 和无机 Sn 的污染。即使在 TBT 降解效率较低的沉积物中（TBT/∑BuTs > 40%），∑BuTs/总 Sn 的比例也很低（<10%），这表明只有一小部分进入水柱的 TBT 在被降解之前到达沉积物。这意味着，如果仅考虑沉积物中的 BuTs 水平，最近进入海洋环境的 TBT 输入可能至少是估计量的 10 倍。研究还表明，即使在污染评估中使用 TBT/TOC 方法，TOC<1%的沉积物中 TBT 浓度也不能很好地指示总体污染水平。最后，原位调查表明，受污染沉积物的再悬浮会导致大量 MBT 和 DBT 释放到水柱中，而 TBT 主要留在沉积物中。
