Multimedia screening of conventional and emerging organophosphate esters alongside urbanized coasts

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are high-production-volume flame retardants and plasticizers that have drawn mounting concern recently due to accumulating evidence of their environmental ubiquity, bioaccumulation and toxic potential. The East China Sea (ECS), adjacent to two most urbanized and industrialized provinces in China (i.e., Zhejiang and Fujian), has been subjected to substantial anthropogenic impacts. Nevertheless, multimedia fate and large-scale spatioseasonal variations of OPEs across the ECS have yet to be well-documented. Therefore, we investigated contamination status of both traditional and emerging OPEs in the ECS bulk water (considering both dissolved and suspended particulate matter phases) and sediments, where the total OPE concentrations ranged of 5.33–958 ng/L and 0.22–115 ng/g, respectively. Additionally to conventional OPEs, several under-studied congeners, including cresyl diphenyl phosphate, tris(3,5-dimethylphenyl) phosphate, and two oligomeric OPEs, namely tetrakis(2-chloroethyl)dichloroisopentyl diphosphate and bisphenol A bis(diphenyl phosphate), were also frequently detected. Elevated OPE residues were generally spotted in the Zhejiang and summer inshore samples, reflecting influences of social economies, climates, coastal hydrodynamics, as well as properties of OPEs and environmental compartments. The output from positive matrix factorization model demonstrated that OPE pollution across the ECS might be largely contributed by assorted manufacturing industries, domestic sewage discharges, wear of polyvinyl chloride products, transportation, and fishery activities. Moreover, risk quotients suggested non-negligible ecological threats posed by the majority of our analytes. However, several emerging OPEs have scarce or even no toxicological information, thus warranting future research on their adverse effects on marine ecosystems and the implementation of effective management strategies.