Impacts of Seasonal Variation on Organochlorine Pesticides in the East China Sea and Northern South China Sea

To investigate the characteristics of historic-use organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in the marginal seawater of China, we examined the seasonal and spatial distributions of hexachlorobenzene (HCB), hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDTs) in the northern South China Sea (NSCS, 18–23° N) and East China Sea (ECS, 26–32° N). Seasonally, in the NSCS, the significantly higher concentrations (p < 0.05) of HCB, HCHs, and DDTs were found in summer, autumn, and summer through autumn, respectively. In the ECS, the higher concentrations were found in summer through winter, autumn, and summer. Spatially, HCB concentrations were significantly higher in the NSCS than in the ECS during all seasons except winter. During all four seasons, concentrations of HCHs were significantly higher in the NSCS than in the ECS. In summer and autumn, concentrations of DDTs were significantly higher in the NSCS than in the ECS, while no significant differences were found in spring and winter. Generally, ...