Temporal trends of organophosphate esters in a sediment core from the tidal flat of Liao River estuary, Northeast China

The historical trends and inventory of organophosphate esters (OPEs) were investigated based on depth profiles OPEs in sediment core collected from the tidal flat Liao River estuary northeastern China. concentration ∑ 13 has increased continuously since records began, reaching a peak 10.8 ng g -1 dry weight (dw) 1960s, then began to decline fall low 3.91 dw 1980s, before rising again increasing 20.4 2000s. After brief decline, It started increase reached 27.0 2018. Tributyl-n-phosphate was found each layer core, accounting for 31.9 - 100% OPEs. fluxes ranged 46.5 105 cm -2 y layers deposited between 2007 estimated be 1541 . This work reports first time contamination Chinese sediments, which is important assessing environmental risk