Pergamon Chemosphere, Vol. 35, No. 9, pp. 2039-2050, 1997 © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain 0045-6535/97 $17.00+0.00 PII: S0045-6535(97)00237-3 SOURCES AND DISTRIBUTION OF CHLOROBENZENES AND HEXACHLOROBUTADIENE IN SURFICIAL SEDIMENTS ALONG THE COAST OF SOUTHWESTERN TAIWAN Chon-Lin Lee* and Meng-Der Fang Department of Marine Environment National Sun Yat-sen University Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China (Received in USA 23 January 1997; accepted 18 May 1997) ABSTRACT The spatial distribution of chiorobenzenes in surficial sediments of the estuaries of major rivers along the coast of southwestern Taiwan was determined. Analytical results from sediment sampling stations indicate that the three outfall fields near Taiwan's largest industrial city, Kaohsiung, exhibit the highest concentrations of chlorobenzenas. More specifically, sediments from Tso-yin outfall field, which receives the wastewater from a very large petrochemical complex, had concentrations of 1,3,5- trichlorobenzene, pentachlorobenzene, hexachlorobenzene and hexachlorobutadiene 2-3 times higher than those from Chon-chou and Da-lin-pu ouffall fields. Chlorobenzene congeners in sediments from the three outfall fields correlate closely and most of their correlation coefficients are even higher than those reported for Ise Bay, Japan. Results from undeveloped areas, estuaries of the Da-du, Tso-shui, and Chi-shui Chi, will be of value after the impact of planned industrial expansion development begins. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd Key words- chlornbenzenes, hexachlornbutadiene, sediment, ocean outfall field, estuary INTRODUCTION Chlorobenzenes are a group of hydrophobic compounds with a wide spectrum of octanol/water partition coefficients (Log values from 2.90 to 5.73; [I]). Some of congeners are designated by environmental protection agencies in many countries, such as the UK, USA and Canada, as priority or 'Red List' pollutants because of their toxicity and carcinogenicity [2-4]. Most of these compounds tend to adhere to suspended particles because of hydrophobic interactions, and are expected to accumulate in biota [5]. *To whom correspondence should be addressed. (linnohc@mail.nsysu.edu.tw) 2039