Cui, X; Dong, J; Huang, Z; Liu, C; Qiao, X; Wang, X; Zhao, X; Zheng, B; Shen, J; ,
Background As the longest river in Asia, the Yangtze River flows through the most industrialized cities in China and provides critical ecological services for agriculture, industry, and transportation. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been banned for many years, but trace amounts of PCBs still exist as persistent organic pollutant in drinking water and are an ecotoxicological problem. In this work, we collected water, sediment, and suspended particulate matter (SPM) samples along the Yangtze River, to study the distribution and transport of PCBs for the risk assessment of the Yangtze River as a drinking water source. Results The sigma PCBs concentrations in water, sediment, and SPM ranged in 0.04-11 ng/L, 0.33-69 ng/g, and 0.72-153 ng/L, respectively. The main pollutants were PCB17, 18, 28, 47, and 118 in the Yangtze River. The ff(SW) value of PCB18 and PCB28 all exceeded 0.50, whereas the ff(SW) value of PCB47 and PCB118 (except for PCB118 at Y-4) was less than 0.50. The toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) range of PCBs in water and in sediment was ND-5.55 pg-TEQ/L and ND-2.51 pg-TEQ/g, respectively. Conclusions In both water and sediment, lower chlorinated PCBs are dominant in the middle reaches and higher chlorinated PCBs are dominant at downstream. In contrast, SPM is dominated by tetra-CBs. The ff(SW) values reveal a net redissolution of lower PCBs from sediments to water but a net sorption of higher PCBs from water to sediment. The PCBs in water and sediment at downstream pose potential ecological risk, but the drinking water does not have a non-carcinogenic risk for humans.