Contamination of organotin compounds and imposex degree of Thais clavigera from the rocky coastal zone of China

The contamination of antifouling paints, tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPhT) was still concerned in many countries due to their high toxic and relative permanence in marine aquatic ecosystem. This study was conducted to... [ view full abstract ]

The contamination of antifouling paints, tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPhT) was still concerned in many countries due to their high toxic and relative permanence in marine aquatic ecosystem. This study was conducted to determine the concentration of butyltins (BTs) and phenyltins (PhTs) in intertidal neogastropods Thais clevigera and investigate the imposex degree of them in the coast of China. The concentrations of ∑BTs and ∑PhTs in total tissues were ranged 29.6~109.3 ng(Sn)/g dw, 3.5~33.2 ng(Sn)/g dw) respectively. TBT and TPhT were dominant while their degraded compounds were lower. The accumulation patterns of organotin compounds in different gender and tissues showed significant difference: liver (38.5~52.7 ng(Sn)/g dry wt)＞digestive gland (13.0~16.1 ng(Sn)/g dry wt)＞muscle (8.0~9.8 ng(Sn)/g dry wt). The spatial distribution of OTs showed that OTs level in the north was generally higher than in the south and generally decreased from inner harbor to outlet harbor. The 100% imposex degree were found in most areas in the coast environment of China except Dalian(62%) and Ping-tan (71%). Therefore, the contamination of OTs and their impact on the coast environment were still serious even TBTs was banned.