The paper aimed to identify the primary of polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) in the Jiulong River Estuary, investigate the spatial distribution of PCBs contamination in the environment, localize the atmospheric source and evaluate ongoing PCBs emissions by analyzing soil samples collected along the Jiulong River region. In addition, the accumulation of PCBs in the human food chain was quantified by analyzing leaf of orange trees and vegetable samples collected along a gradient of soil/atmospheric contamination moving away from the source. Consequently, the impact on the human health and the ecosystem was quantified, different management options were proposedto reduce this impact and to carry out research on organic contaminants along the Jiulong River and Xiamen region.
A bacterial strain BAP5 with a relatively high degradation ability of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) was isolated from marine sediments of Xiamen Western Sea, China and identified as Ochrobactrum sp. according to 16S rRNA gene sequence as well as Biolog microbial identification system. Strain BAP5 could grow in mineral salt medium with 50 mg/L of BaP and degrade about 20% BaP after 30 d of incubation. Ochrobactrum sp. BAP5 was able to utilize other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (such as phenanthrene, pyrene and fluoranthene) as the sole carbon source and energy source, suggesting its potential application in PAHs bioremediation. The profile of total soluble protein from Ochrobactrum sp. BAP5 was also investigated. Some over- and special-expressed proteins of strain BAP5 when incubated with the presence of BaP were detected by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and found to be related with PAHs metabolism, DNA translation, and energy production based on peptide fingerprint analysis through matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry.
An intensive investigation was conducted to study the distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), to show firstly the level of pollution i n the agricultural areas and analyses specifically the status of soil polluted b y these persistent pollutants in some locations of Xiamen region. Soil samples c ollected from Jiulong agricultural catchment have been analysed for 16 PAH compo unds, using gas chromatography flame ionization detection in order to determine the level of selected PAH components and to identify the factors that may contro l their distribution and persistence in the area. The main PAHs found in soil sa mples were the low molecular weight. The total PAHs detected in soil samples ran ged from 0.50 to 0.95 ?滋g/g soil. The highest values of PAHs were significantly detected in the orange tree leaves, which range from 236.1 to 249.3 ?滋g/g soil showing recent atmospheric inputs of these volatile pollutants. The distributio n of PAHs in vegetable were monitored and indicating that the concentration were high and ranged from 8.24 to 58.87 ?滋g/g. Other sediment samples were also col lected and analysed from urban sewage(5.26 ?滋g/g dw), aquacultural(0.52 ?滋g/g dw) and industrial areas(from 0.62 to 2.09 ?滋g/g dw), during this investigation . The contamination of Jiulong river estuary and Xiamen Western Sea by PAHs has been then widely justified by wastewater discharges and soil runoffs from these areas. The results, therefore, provide important information on the current cont amination status caused by the atmospheric transport and point to the need for u rgent actions to stop the release of these hydrocarbons to the environment. The necessity of implementing systematic monitoring of PAHs is also emphasized.
