Reconstruction of the pollution history of alkylphenols (4-tert-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol) in the Baltic Sea

This paper reports the reconstruction of the pollution history of 4-tert-octylphenol (OP) and 4-nonylphenol (NP) in the Baltic Sea. Alkylphenols are endocrine-disrupting compound and therefore toxic to aquatic organisms. Sediment cores were collected from regions with relatively stable sedimentation conditions. The cores were dated by the (210)Pb method. The OP and NP were determined using HPLC-FL. The highest inventory of these compounds was observed in the Gotland Deep (610 μg m(2) of NP and 47 μg m(2) of OP) and the lowest-on the slope of the Gdansk Deep (24 μg m(2) of NP and 16 μg m(2) of OP). Such spatial distribution was probably, among other factors, the result of the uplift of the sea floor. The pollution trends of OP and NP in sediments coincided with the following: (1) the beginnings of eutrophication (1960s/1970s of the twentieth century) and (2) strong increase in the areal extent and volume of hypoxia and anoxia in the Baltic (present century).