Correlation between Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Wharf Roach ( Ligia spp.) and Environmental Components of the Intertidal and Supralittoral Zone along the Japanese Coast

Masato Honda, Koki Mukai, Edward Nagato, Seiichi Uno and Yuji Oshima
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Masato Honda: Botanical Garden, Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University, Kakuma, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan
Koki Mukai: Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
Edward Nagato: Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shimane University, 1060 Nishitsugawa-machi, Matsue, Shimane 690-8504, Japan
Seiichi Uno: Education and Research Center for Marine Resources and Environment, Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University, 4-50-20 Shimoarata, Kagoshima 890-0056, Japan
Yuji Oshima: Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in wharf roach ( Ligia spp.), as an environmental indicator, and in environmental components of the intertidal and supralittoral zones were determined, and the PAH exposure pathways in wharf roach were estimated. Wharf roaches, mussels, and environmental media (water, soil and sand, and drifting seaweed) were collected from 12 sites in Japan along coastal areas of the Sea of Japan. PAH concentrations in wharf roaches were higher than those in mussels (median total of 15 PAHs: 48.5 and 39.9 ng/g-dry weight (dw), respectively) except for samples from Ishikawa (wharf roach: 47.9 ng/g-dw; mussel: 132 ng/g-dw). The highest total PAH concentration in wharf roach was from Akita (96.0 ng/g-dw), followed by a sample from Niigata (85.2 ng/g-dw). Diagnostic ratio analysis showed that nearly all PAHs in soil and sand were of petrogenic origin. Based on a correlation analysis of PAH concentrations between wharf roach and the environmental components, wharf roach exposure to three- and four-ring PAHs was likely from food (drifting seaweed) and from soil and sand, whereas exposure to four- and five-ring PAHs was from several environmental components. These findings suggest that the wharf roach can be used to monitor PAH pollution in the supralittoral zone and in the intertidal zone.

Keywords: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Ligia spp.; supralittoral zone; exposure pathway (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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