Spatial and Temporal Trends of Polyhalogenated Carbazoles in Sediments of Upper Great Lakes: Insights into Their Origin.

Spatial and Temporal Trends of Polyhalogenated Carbazoles in Sediments of Upper Great Lakes: Insights into Their Origin.

Environmental science & technology (2016-12-21)

Jiehong Guo, Zhuona Li, Prabha Ranasinghe, Solidea Bonina, Soheil Hosseini, Margaret B Corcoran, Colin Smalley, Karl J Rockne, Neil C Sturchio, John P Giesy, An Li

PMID27997128

ABSTRACT

Polyhalogenated carbazoles (PHCZs) have been increasingly detected in the environment. Their similarities in chemical structure with legacy pollutants and their potential toxicity have caused increasing concern. In this work, 112 Ponar grab and 28 core sediment samples were collected from Lakes Michigan, Superior, and Huron, and a total of 26 PHCZs were analyzed along with unsubstituted carbazole using gas chromatography coupled with single- or triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry. Our results show that the total accumulation of PHCZs in the sediments of the upper Great Lakes is >3000 tonnes, orders of magnitude greater than those of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209). The 27 individual analytes differ in spatial distribution and temporal trend. Our results showed that PHCZs with substitution patterns of -Br