Reconstruction of the pollution history of alkylphenols (4-tert-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol) in the Baltic Sea

摘要

This paper reports the reconstruction of the pollution history of 4-tert-octylphenol (OP) and 4-nonylphenol (NP) in the Baltic Sea. Alkylphenols are endocrine-disrupting compound and therefore toxic to aquatic organisms. Sediment cores were collected from regions with relatively stable sedimentation conditions. The cores were dated by the Pb-210 method. The OP and NP were determined using HPLC-FL. The highest inventory of these compounds was observed in the Gotland Deep (610 mu g m(2) of NP and 47 mu g m(2) of OP) and the lowest-on the slope of the Gdansk Deep (24 mu g m(2) of NP and 16 mu g m(2) of OP). Such spatial distribution was probably, among other factors, the result of the uplift of the sea floor. The pollution trends of OP and NP in sediments coincided with the following: (1) the beginnings of eutrophication (1960s/1970s of the twentieth century) and (2) strong increase in the areal extent and volume of hypoxia and anoxia in the Baltic (present century).