Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in surface sediments of Donghu Lake, Wuhan, Hubei, China.

Surface sediment samples from five different sites were collected in Donghu Lake, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China during November 2000. Over 180 organic chemicals were detected using GC-MS controlled by a Hewlett Packard Chemstation after soxhlet extraction. Derivatives of benzene, phthalate esters, PAHs, phenols, isophorone as priority pollutants or endocrine disruptors, respectively, were detected. The concentration of organic pollutants were found to be highest at the sampling site located at Southwest Donghu Lake (Shuiguo), caused most probably by the untreated wastewater discharge, average at the southern and lowest at the northern part of the lake.