Occurrence, trophic magnification and potential risk of short-chain chlorinated paraffins in coral reef fish from the Nansha Islands, South China Sea.

As emerging persistent organic pollutants in marine environment, short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) have attracted increasing attentions recently. Coral reefs are important ocean ecosystems. However, data on SCCP pollution in the coral reef regions is still unavailable. In the present work, bioaccumulation of SCCPs in the coral reef ecosystems was reported for the first time. SCCP concentrations in coral reef fish from the Nansha Islands of the South China Sea were in the range of 37.9-25,400 ng/g lipid weight (lw) (average: 4400 ± 6590 ng/g lw; median: 1020 ng/g lw). C SCCPs were the dominating SCCP homologues, accounting for 59% to 80% of the total SCCPs (average: 70 ± 5.0%), followed by C SCCPs (average: 23 ± 4.5%). Regarding chlorine substitution, SCCPs were dominated by Cl SCCPs (average: 45 ± 2.5%) and Cl SCCPs (average: 30 ± 5.4%). Trophic magnification factor (TMF) of total SCCPs was 8.5, indicating trophic magnification potential of SCCPs in the coral reef ecosystems. In addition, a parabolic relationship was established between TMFs and log K of specific SCCP homologues. SCCP residues in the coral reef fish from the Nansha Islands of the South China Sea did not pose significant risk to human health.