CHARACTERISTICS, BEHAVIOR AND POTENTIAL ASSESSMENT OF ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTING CHEMICALS (EDCS) IN SURFACE WATER AND SUSPENDED SOLID OF THE PEARL RIVER DELTA, CHINA.

In order to understand the distribution and behavior of selected endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the Pearl River Delta, China, the concentrations of EDCs in water and suspended solid of rivers were quantified in agricultural, urban, and industrial zones of Dongguan watershed by GCIMS. In the last two zones, the concentration of EDCs in river ranged from 177 to 796 ng/L, from 17291to 90808 ng/L and from 10 to 56322 ngfL for octylphenol (OP), nonylphenol (NP) and bisphenol A (BPA), respectively. It was found the NP/OP ratio in waters was above 20. BPA/OP in water was less than 1 in industrial zone, above 1 in urban zone and more than 30 in the Pearl River, respectively. Also, the NP/OP ratio in suspended solid varied from 6 to 90 with a few changes for BPA/OP ratio. Finally, the risk assessment of EDCs in rivers demonstrated that almost all river reaches in the watershed could produce 50% level effect on the freshwater fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]