PCBs pollutants are measured on tidal-flat sediments of Yangtze estuary by a high resolution capillary column gas chromatography ( HP6890 ) equipped with an 63Ni electron capture detector ( ECD ). The concentration tendency of PCBs is Phragmites zone > Scirpus zone > bare mudflats. There are linear relations between PCBs and TOC and > 63μm grain size percentage ( in volume ). The low chlorinated congeners may be more important than the high chlorinated congeners in this area. PCBs prefer to accumulate in the sediments near sewage outlets and Phragmites zone. The sediments’ PCBs pollution ( 10.7 ~ 28.6 ng/g, dry weight ) in the Yangtze estuary tidal-flat is less serious than that of the most of other areas in the world .But the detected ratio is 100%, even the Jiuduansha shoal has detected PCBs, so much attention should be paid to this area for PCBs.
Magnetic, granulometric and geochemical analyses were conducted on an intertidal sediment core from the Yangtze Estuary to evaluate the possibility of normalizing samples for particle size effects in a heavy metal pollution study by means of magnetic proxies. It has been found that the magnetic parameter XARM, indicating fine grained ferrimagnetic minerals, correlates well with the clay content and organic matter concentration of the sediments. XARM also shows significant relationship with heavy metals. Therefore XARM is proposed as a proxy for clay content in the sediments, and can be used to compensate for the particle size effect in sedimentary heavy metal records, where magnetic minerals are not subject to significant post-depositional alteration.
