Analysis and distribution features of benzothiophene in sediments of Nansha Islands sea area

This work yielded an improved method for extracting and analysing benzothiophene in marine sediment. The detection limit was 0.05 ng S of benzothiophene, with precision of 8%. Benzothiophene was found in Nansha Islands sea area sediments and ranged from 1.1–6.8 ng per gram dry sediment. Its concentration was closely correlated to the organic carbon content in the sediment. Several source processes of benzothiophene are discussed in this paper.