Phthalates and non-phthalate plasticizers in Tunisian marine samples: Occurrence, spatial distribution and seasonal variation.

Seawater, sediment, seagrass and fish from several sites along the Tunisian coast were monitored for several phthalate esters (PAEs) and non-phthalate plasticizers (NPPs) during 2018-2019. In water and sediment, NPPs were higher than PAEs, being di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP, 0.0717 and 4.59 μg/g), and di(2-ethylhexyl) terephthalate (DEHT, 0.634 and 2.42 μg/g) most abundant. As expected, sediments acted as a sink for plasticizers, thus revealing a stronger contamination than water. Seagrass was less contaminated than fish, being DEHP (0.726 and 1.77 μg/g) and DEHT (9.19 and 23.2 μg/g) predominant. Biota poorly concentrated/accumulated plasticizers from water and sediment depending on the logKoct/wat and water solubility of single congeners. The spatial distribution of plasticizers was affected by the proximity to anthropogenic sources and the rate of coastal currents; whereas their seasonal variation may be related to the length of time of touristic/industrial inputs and factors such as rainfall and urban stormwater runoff. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Amel Jebara, Ambrogina Albergamo, Rossana Rando, Angela Giorgia Potortì, Vincenzo Lo Turco, Hedi Ben Mansour, Giuseppa Di Bella. Phthalates and non-phthalate plasticizers in Tunisian marine samples: Occurrence, spatial distribution and seasonal variation. Marine pollution bulletin. 2021 Feb;163:111967

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PMID: 33486405

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