Chemical characterization of Tan‐Sui River sediment in North Taiwan

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Abstract
Surface sediment samples from four downstream sites of Tan‐Sui River in Taipei metropolitan area were collected from 1997 to 1999. The semivolatile organic pollutants present in the sediments were screened by GC/MSD. Several target compounds including sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), seven chlorobenzenes, two phthalates and the total amount of C8‐C32 aliphatic hydrocarbons were quantified. The concentration of the 16 PAHs ranges from 0.21 to 5.69 μg/g of which fluoranthene, pyrene and phenanthrene were the highest. The concentration of the total chlorobenzenes ranged from 0.04 to 5.85 μg/g. The concentration of bis(2‐ethylhexyl)phthalate ranges from 3.8 to 35.3 μg/g and that of the total C8‐C32 aliphatic hydrocarbons ranges from 0.94 to 10.6 μg/g. Some of these values are higher than similar sediment survey in Japan in the eighties. The concentration of bis(2‐ethylhexyl)phthalate is much higher than the no‐effect level (0.184 μg/g) set by McDonald. Some of the PAHs have already reached the level of biological effects. As compared with the sediment samples collected from Tou‐Chien River and Pu‐Ze River located at the west of Taiwan, the chlorobenzene concentrations of sediments in Tan‐Sui River are 5–6 times higher, the PAHs are 6–10 times higher and the phthalates are 11–20 times higher. Nonylphenol was also commonly found in the Tan‐Sui River sediment. There is a decreasing tendency of PAHs and phthalates concentration from surface to bottom for the core sample at Taipei Bridge site. Such tendency is less obvious for chlorobenzenes.