School of Marine Sciences, Zhuhai Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Environment, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, Pearl River Estuary Marine Ecosystem Research Station, Ministry of Education, Sun Yat-Sen University, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Zhuhai 519082, China.
School of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2023 Jun 27;57(25):9321-9331. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.3c01381. Epub 2023 Jun 14.
Alkylphenols (APs) represent one of the highest exposure levels among endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the South China Sea (SCS) due to their extensive use as plastic additives. The concerns about EDCs, including APs, have been reiterated since the surge in plastic waste from the COVID-19 response, but far less is known about the response of AP loadings in the SCS to emerging public policies and activities, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we used cetaceans as bioindicators for monitoring two major APs, 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) and 4--octylphenol (4-t-OP), in nine stranded cetacean species ( = 110) in the SCS between 2004 and 2021. Prior to the COVID-19, APs loads showed decreasing temporal trends for finless porpoises and humpback dolphins, most likely due to China's restrictions on AP use or a shift in dominant prey species. Unexpectedly, AP loads continued to decline after the COVID-19 outbreak, probably due to a temporal-lag response of marine AP fluxes to the pandemic. The health risk assessments based on hormone biomarkers and toxicity thresholds suggest the potential adverse effects of APs on cetaceans, while recent declines in APs, though limited, may mitigate the detrimental impacts.
烷基酚（APs）是南海（SCS）中内分泌干扰化学物质（EDCs）中暴露水平最高的物质之一，因为它们被广泛用作塑料添加剂。自 COVID-19 应对措施导致塑料废物激增以来，人们对包括 APs 在内的 EDCs 的担忧一再被提及，但对于 SCS 中 AP 负荷对新兴公共政策和活动（包括 COVID-19 大流行）的反应，人们知之甚少。在这里，我们使用鲸目动物作为生物指标，监测了 2004 年至 2021 年期间南海 9 种搁浅鲸目物种（=110）中的两种主要 AP，即 4-壬基酚（4-NP）和 4--辛基酚（4-t-OP）。在 COVID-19 之前，由于中国对 AP 使用的限制或主要猎物种类的转变，江豚和中华白海豚的 AP 负荷呈现出下降的时间趋势。出乎意料的是，AP 负荷在 COVID-19 爆发后继续下降，这可能是由于海洋 AP 通量对大流行的时间滞后反应。基于激素生物标志物和毒性阈值的健康风险评估表明，APs 对鲸目动物可能存在潜在的不利影响，而最近的 AP 下降（尽管有限）可能减轻了不利影响。
