Research Progress in Area 2 方向 ( 二 ) 課題進展 111 Abstract The environmental occurrence, fate and ecotoxicity of emerging contaminants (ECs) have been the subject of increasing research, and policy and public concern, over the past two decades. The extent to which ECs are removed and sequestered in estuarine and marine sediments, their land-sea fluxes, and their rate of degradation or environmental persistence still are unclear - consequently it remains difficult to meaningfully assess the ecosafety implications of ECs, and their risk management requirements. In this project, Prof. Cundy and his collaborators will for the first time assess the sources, fluxes, and the extent of sedimentary trapping and / or degradation for selected emerging contaminants across the Pearl River Estuary, and propose source and pathway interventions that can be applied to reduce contaminant fluxes and environmental risk. Research Activities and Progress Summary: Research activities have been heavily curtailed by Covid lockdown, but sediment samples from the PRE are now being analysed for a range of contaminants, alongside local comparative samples fromSouthampton Water. Key activities and progress include: • Joint review paper on emerging contaminants in the Greater Bay Area, China, published in Environmental Science and Policy journal (IF 5.58) examining current baselines, knowledge gaps, and research and management priorities for emerging contaminants; • Analysis underway of surface sediment samples collected in the PRE in Jan. 2021, for range of metal and organic contaminants (Fig 1), with sediment core analysis to follow; • Complementary data collected from comparator site Southampton Water (UK), to compare and contrast with the PRE (providing industrialised systems of different scale and climate), as part of UK research council PhD project working with the project team. Key Findings • From the current literature, less than 10% of published studies consider integrated sourcepathway-receptor linkages for assessing risk from emergingcontaminants in thePRE.More integrated studies are needed, with use of indicator species and sediment cores for monitoring and temporal change assessment. Nature-based solutions can provide a useful complementary strategy for emerging contaminant risk management. Research Output Publication 1 Trained personnel 4 Emerging Contaminant Sources, Fluxes and Risk Management across the Pearl River Estuary and South China Sea Prof. Andrew Brian Cundy University of Southampton Fig 1. 1 Hg distribution in the PRE, based on surface sediment sampling from January 2021. Stations are numbered generally from upper estuary (1) to South China Sea (20)
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