Enrichment of persistent anthropogenic pollutants in the ocean dumping zone of Korea

Abstract

The Yellow Sea is a semi-enclosed body of water bounded by the Chinese mainland to the west, the Korean Peninsula to the east, and a line running from the north bank of the mouth of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) to the south side of Cheju Island. This international water body, one of the 50 large LMEs (large marine ecosystems) in the world, supports substantial populations of fish, invertebrates, marine mammals, and sea birds which in turn support partially 600 million people living on its basin. The Yellow Sea is presently threatened by both land- and sea-based sources of pollution resulting from extensive economic development in the coastal zone. The major industrial and agricultural wastes to this LME come from the three littoral countries that share this water, namely, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea. Offshore waste dumping may add up this burden, for example, Korea has an offshore dumping site called ‘Byung’ in the middle of Yellow Sea. Ocean dumping is the dumping or placing of materials into designated place in the ocean, often on the continental self. Ocean dumping has been conducted since 1988 in Korea. Dumping activity is legally permitted at three regions within Korean waters, among which one is located in the western side of Korea and two is in the eastern side. Disposal of such waste at sea introduces anthropogenic contaminants to the pristine marine environment directly and expose the marine organisms to acute or chronic toxic effects. Contaminated seafood will ultimately affect human health. In the present study, we collected surface sediments and benthic organisms from the Yellow Sea including dumping site in order to assess the contamination of PBDEs in the Yellow Sea and the consequences of dumping activity to YSLME.