Subproject 子项目 1

Subproject   子项目   1

Assessment of chemical contamination in a coastal ecosystem subject to aquaculture discharges as a base for evaluating the related biological response

Participating scientists

Dr. Larissa Dsikowitzky (RWTH Aachen), Prof. Jan Schwarzbauer (RWTH Aachen), Lukas Hagemann (RWTH Aachen), Sebastian Kucher (RWTH Aachen), Prof. Fei Yang (Hainan University), Prof. Hongwei Zhao (Hainan University), Prof. Hailong Zhou (Hainan University), Prof. Xiaoping Diao (Hainan University), Prof. Aimin Wang (Hainan University)

Project description

The discharge of high amounts of aquaculture effluents is one of the major factors influencing the quality of Hainan coastal waters and may lead, together with riverine input of municipal sewage and pesticides from agriculture, to the massive input of organic contaminants to coastal waters. Especially lipophilic organic contaminants are accumulated in aquatic biota and some contaminants such as antibiotics or pesticides from aquaculture effluents may pose a threat to species which are vital for the proper functioning of the coastal ecosystem. Nevertheless, a chemical characterization of organic contamination in Hainan coastal waters is missing which considers priority pollutants such as antibiotics and further, rarely observed “emerging contaminants”, which might be site-specific and also (eco)toxicological relevant. Therefore our major goal is to characterize and trace the input of land-derived organic contaminants to Hainan coastal waters as a basis to investigate associated potential effects on the coastal organisms.


Information to our field campaign

What have we done in Hainan during our field work?

• Sampling of sub-surface water for organic contaminant analyses
• Preservation of water samples with NaN3 to minimize microbial degradation of the organic contaminants during storage
• Sampling of surface sediments in mangrove areas for organic contaminant analyses
• Sampling of crabs for contamination analyses
• Interviews with owners of aquaculture facilities

Where did we collect our samples?


Basic information about organic pollutants in our Fact Sheet

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