Long-term decreases in persistent organic pollutants in South African coastal waters detected from beached polyethylene pellets

Peter G. Ryan, Hindrik Bouwman, Coleen L. Moloney, Masaki Yuyama, 
Hideshige Takada, Long-term decreases in persistent organic pollutants 
in South African coastal waters detected from beached polyethylene 
pellets, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Available online 12 October 2012, 
ISSN 0025-326X, 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.09.013.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X12004638)
Abstract: Polyethylene pellets provide a convenient means to monitor 
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in marine systems. Pellets 
collected between 1984 and 2008 at three South African beaches were 
analysed for PCB, HCH and DDT. Concentrations of all three POPs 
decreased over the last two decades, although this signal was less clear 
for PCBs, and further monitoring is needed to assess trends in this 
family of compounds. DDT concentrations at two sites were higher than 
previous records for southern Africa, but there is no evidence of a link 
to the ongoing use of DDT for malaria control. HCHs concentrations were 
lower than in pellets from the east coast of southern Africa, suggesting 
that this pesticide was mainly used in the eastern part of the region. 
Our study demonstrates the potential for International Pellet Watch to 
track temporal as well as geographical patterns in the abundance of POPs 
in marine environments.

Long-term decreases in persistent organic pollutants in South African coastal waters detected from beached polyethylene pellets