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Abstract The rudimentary recycling of electronic waste (e-waste) has been banned in China since the late 2000s, leaving many abandoned e-waste sites. However, knowledge is limited on the concentrations and fates of the e-waste derived contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in these abandoned sites. In this work, we assessed the temporal trend of PCB concentrations in the year 2010, 2012, and 2016 at an abandoned e-waste site in South China, using apple snail as a bioindicator. The mean ∑PCBs concentrations in apple snails sampled in 2016 (53.2 ng/g dry weight) was approximately 11-fold higher than that (4.68 ng/g dry weight) in apple snails from a reference site. The result suggested that the abandoned e-waste recycling site was still heavily polluted by PCBs, despite of the fact that crude e-waste recycling processes have been prohibited for nearly 10 years. The concentrations of ∑PCBs were significantly decreased in 2016 compared to those in 2010 (mean: 115 ng/g dry weight) and 2012 (mean: 92.3 ng/g dry weight), but there were no significant differences in the concentrations between 2010 and 2012. Regarding the congener profiles, the contributions of lower chlorinated congeners (tri- and tetra-PCBs) in the snails tended to be higher over the years. The ∑PCBs in snails were significantly correlated with those in soils. Additionally, PCB profiles in snails resembled those in soils. These results suggested that apple snails can be used as an ideal bioindicator for PCBs in the paddy soils. Field determined biota-soil accumulation factors (BSAFs) for PCBs ranged from 0.31 to 1.9, with most of the values being 1–2; indicating that theoretical BSAFs can be used to predict the bioaccumulation of PCBs in the snails with a reasonable degree of certainty. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • PCBs in apple snails from the abandoned e-waste site decreased during 2010–2016. • The contribution of lighter PCB congeners increased over the years. • Theoretical BSAFs could predict the bioaccumulation of PCBs in apple snails. • Apple snail is a suitable bioindicator for PCBs in paddy field soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The golden apple snail Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1822) was introduced into Taiwan intentionally in the early 1980s and has become a recurring pest that seriously threatens aquatic crops. In this study, a field description of imposex with a developed penis sheath and penis in female golden apple snails from crop/domestic wastewater drainage sites and a six-order river is presented for the first time. Based on the five field collections and the aquarium group, the vas deferens sequence (VDS) of P. canaliculata in imposex development was categorized into four stages, i.e., stage 0: without male genital system; stage 1: with rudimentary penis; stage 2: with rudimentary penis and penis sheath; and stage 3: the rudimentary penis developing into penis pouch and penis. The VDS indices varied between 1.07 and 2.82 and were lowest in the aquarium group and Yuanlin2. Regarding the severity of imposex, the aquarium group was less pronounced, as illustrated by the length of penis sheath and penis length, than the field collections (p <0.05). In respect of the penis length, males of the most imposex-affected site were up to 15% shorter than that of the aquarium group. Negative correlations between male penis length and female imposex characters (i.e., penis length and penis sheath length) were also observed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]