Abstract:

To comprehensively assess the distribution， multi-media-partitioning behavior， and key environmental factors that influence the environmental fates of pharmaceuticals and personal care products（PPCPs）， this study employed a combination of field sampling and high-precision analysis to systematically investigate the spatiotemporal distributions， partitioning behavior， and ecological risks of 15 nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs（NSAIDs） and preservatives in the seawater and offshore sediments of Yantai and Weihai. The results showed that the total mass concentrations of the 15 compounds ranged between 2.31 and 662.31 ng/L in seawater， and between 57.11 and 131.09 ng/g in sediments. Among them， antipyrine（PHZ）， fenoprofen（FPF）， and methylparaben（MPB） were the major pollutants in seawater， whereas ibuprofen（IBU） and ketoprofen（KPF） were dominant in sediments. Higher concentrations of PPCPs were observed in the summer， which closely mirrors their usage patterns and human activities during the summer and peak tourist seasons in Yantai and Weihai City. MPB， IBU， PHZ， and FPF exhibited average mass concentrations of 30.16， 15.15， 3.27， and 3.81 ng/L， respectively， in the summer. Regarding the spatial distributions of these compounds， the seawater collected from the Bohai Sea exhibited a higher total PPCP concentration than that in the Yellow Sea in spring and winter， whereas the reverse was observed in summer. Additionally， the total PPCP concentrations in surface and bottom seawater showed no significant seasonal differences. Sediment in the Yellow Sea was found to contain a higher total PPCP concentration than that in the Bohai Sea sediment. Ethylparaben and propylparaben exhibited sediment-water partitioning coefficients of（3.99±0.95） and（3.80±0.57） cm³/g， respectively， which are higher than their corresponding theoretically predicted values from EPISuite model， indicating the complexity of pollutant partitioning behavior between sediment and water in real environments. In terms of ecological risks， total risk quotient（RQ_T） values revealed that PPCP mixtures are likely to pose low risks to algae， crustaceans， and fish in the study area. In addition， while crustaceans exhibited a higher RQ_T value for PPCP mixtures than algae or fish， the differences were not significant. To identify whetherigh-risk pollutants existed in the study area， the prioritization index（PI） of each individual PPCP was calculated. The target PPCPs were found to have PI values of zero and were consequently classified as safe pollutants. Nonetheless， continuous attention needs to be paid to the levels and risks associated with multiple PPCPs in the marine environment， in view of the relative scarcity of studies.

Key words: pharmaceuticals and personal care products（PPCPs）, spatial-temporal distribution, sediment-water partitioning coefficient, ecological risk assessment