Atmospheric PM10 were measured for 12 months at 18 sites along a 2500 km profile across northern China. Annual mean PM10 concentrations in urban, rural village, and rural field sites were 180 ± 171, 182 ± 154, and 128 ± 89 μg/m3, respectively. The similarities in PM10 concentrations between urban and rural village sites suggest that strong localized emissions and severe contamination in rural residential areas are derived from solid fuels combustion in households. High PM10 concentrations in Wuwei and Taiyuan were caused by either sandstorms or industrial activities. Relatively low PM10 concentrations were observed in coastal areas of Dalian and Yantai. Particulate air pollution was much higher in winter and spring than in summer and fall. Multiple regression analysis indicates that 35% of the total variance can be attributed to sandstorms, precipitation and residential energy consumption. Over 40% of the measurements in both urban and rural village areas exceeded the national ambient air quality standard.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) are bioaccumulative flame retardants. PBDEs increased in many ecosystems during the late 20th century, but recently have declined in some environments. To examine trends in the northern Pacific, we analysed PBDEs, HBCDD and carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) to account for dietary effects in archived eggs of three seabird species from British Columbia, Canada, 1990–2011 (rhinoceros auklets, Cerorhinca monocerata; Leach's storm-petrels, Oceanodroma leucorhoa; ancient murrelets, Synthliboramphus antiquus, 2009 only). PBDEs increased until approximately 2000 and then decreased, while HBCDD increased exponentially throughout the examined period. No significant changes in dietary tracers were observed. HBCDD and ΣPBDE levels varied among species; ΣPBDE also varied among sites. Temporal changes in contaminant concentrations are unlikely to have been caused by dietary changes, and likely reflect the build-up followed by decreases associated with voluntary phase-outs and regulations implemented in North America to control PBDEs.

Beach sand and seawater taken from the coastlines of the North-East Pacific Ocean and Hawaii State were investigated to determine the causes of global chemical contamination from polystyrene (PS). All samples were found to contain styrene monomer (SM), styrene dimers (SD), and styrene trimers (ST) with a concentration distribution of styrene analogues in the order of ST > SD > SM. The contamination by styrene analogues along the West Coast proved more severe than in Alaska and other regions. The Western Coastlines of the USA seem be affected by both land- and ocean-based pollution sources, which might result from it being a heavily populated area as the data suggest a possible proportional relationship between PS pollution and population. Our results suggest the presence of new global chemical contaminants derived from PS in the ocean, and along coasts.

About 140-year changes in the trace metals in Porites coral samples from two locations in the northern South China Sea were investigated. Results of PCA analyses suggest that near the coast, terrestrial input impacted behavior of trace metals by 28.4%, impact of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) was 19.0%, contribution of war and infrastructure were 14.4% and 15.6% respectively. But for a location in the open sea, contribution of War and SST reached 33.2% and 16.5%, while activities of infrastructure and guano exploration reached 13.2% and 14.7%. While the spatiotemporal change model of Cu, Cd and Pb in seawater of the north area of South China Sea during 1986–1997 were reconstructed. It was found that in the sea area Cu and Cd contaminations were distributed near the coast while areas around Sanya, Hainan had high Pb levels because of the well-developed tourism related activities.

Surface sediments and corals (Acropora sp. and Montipora sp.) from the coastline of Kenting were analyzed in 2009 and 2010 for content levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The total PAH concentrations (t-PAH) in corasls (143–1715 ng g−1 dw) were significantly higher than in the ambient sediments (2–59 ng g−1 dw) indicating the bioaccumulation of PAHs in corals. The spatial and seasonal variation in PAH levels suggested that land-loaded contaminants may be the main source of PAHs in the Kenting coral reefs. Based on molecular indices, PAHs were substantially of petroleum origin. The major PAH components were phenanthrene, pyrene and fluorine, but PAH congeners in corals and sediments still have characteristic composition patterns which would be altered by the bio/accumulation mechanisms. Further study is essential to assess and understand the impacts of these chemicals on coral reefs.

In this study, 166 surface sediments and 3 sediment cores from the Bohai Sea (BS), Yellow Sea (YS) and East China Sea (ECS) in China were collected to investigate the spatial and temporal distributions and the transport of PFASs. PFASs concentrations in the surface sediments ranged from below detection limit (<LOD) to 2.78 ng g−1 with an average value of 0.55 ng g−1 on a dry weight basis (dw). A general decreasing trend of PFASs from the coast areas to the open sea was found. Multivariate regression analysis indicated pH and longitude were the major factors influencing surficial distributions of PFASs in the sampling areas (R2 = 0.29, p < 0.01). Total PFASs concentrations in the sediment cores ranged from <LOD to 1.65 ng g−1 dw, with an increasing trend from the lower to the upper layers, corresponding well to the increasing production and usage in China in recent years.

Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are emerging contaminants that have raised great concern in recent years. While PFAAs manufacturing becomes regulated in developed countries, production has been partly shifted to China. Eight fluoropolymer manufacturing facilities located in the South Bohai coastal region, one of the most populated areas of China, have been used to manufacture PFAA-related substances since 2001. The environmental consequence of the intensive production of PFAAs in this region remains largely unknown. We analyzed 17 PFAAs in twelve coastal rivers of this region, and found staggeringly high concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) ranging from 0.96 to 4534.41 ng/L. The highest concentration was observed in the Xiaoqing River which received effluents from certain fluoropolymer facilities. Principal component analysis indicated similar sources of several perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) in all rivers, which indicated that atmospheric transport, wastewater treatment and surface runoff also acted as important supplements to direct discharge to surface water.

Air pollution in rural China has often been ignored, especially for the less developed west China. Atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured monthly at 11 rural sites (5 rural villages and 6 rural fields) together with 7 urban stations in northern China between April 2010 and March 2011. PAH concentrations at rural village sites were similar to those in urban areas and significantly higher than those in rural fields, indicating severe contamination in rural villages. PAH concentrations in the west were similar to those in the more developed North China Plain, and higher than those along the coast. Such a geographical distribution is mainly caused by the differences in residential energy consumption and meteorological conditions, which can explain approximately 48% of the total variation in PAH concentrations. With heavy dependence on biofuel combustion for heating, seasonality in rural areas is more profound than that in urban areas.

Seagrass beds are highly productive coastal ecosystems providing a large array of ecosystem services including fisheries and carbon sequestration. As seagrasses are known to be highly sensitive to anthropogenic forcing, we evaluated the use of trace metal concentrations in seagrasses as bioindicators for trace metal pollution of coastal regions at both global and local scale. We carried out a meta-analysis based on literature data to provide a global benchmark list for trace metal accumulation in seagrasses, which was lacking in literature. We subsequently carried out a case study at the Caribbean islands of Curaçao and Bonaire to test for local-scale differences in trace metal concentrations in seagrasses, and internal metal allocation. The benchmark and local study show that trace metal concentrations in seagrass leaves, regardless of the species, can vary over a 100–1000-fold range, and are related to the level of anthropogenic pressure, making seagrasses highly valuable indicators.

Effects of a model oil dispersant (Corexit EC9500A) on sorption/desorption of phenanthrene were investigated with two marine sediments. Kinetic data revealed that the presence of the dispersant at 18 mg/L enhanced phenanthrene uptake by up to 7%, whereas the same dispersant during desorption reduced phenanthrene desorption by up to 5%. Sorption isotherms confirmed that at dispersant concentrations of 18 and 180 mg/L, phenanthrene uptake progressively increased for both sediments. Furthermore, the presence of the dispersant during desorption induced remarkable sorption hysteresis. The effects were attributed to added phenanthrene affinity and capacity due to sorption of the dispersant on the sediments. Dual-mode models adequately simulated sorption isotherms and kinetic data in the presence of the dispersant. Water accommodated oil (WAO) and dispersant-enhanced WAO increased phenanthrene sorption by up to 22%. This information is important for understanding roles of oil dispersants on the distribution and transport of petroleum PAHs in seawater-sediments.