Supplementary Material
Manuscript Title: / Solution by dilution? - A review on the pollution status of the Yangtze RiverAuthors: / Tilman Floehr1* & Hongxia Xiao1*, Björn Scholz-Starke1, Lingling Wu2, Junli Hou3, Daqiang Yin2, Xiaowei Zhang4, Rong Ji4, Xinzhong Yuan5, Richard Ottermanns1, Martina Roß-Nickoll1, Andreas Schäffer1,4, Henner Hollert1,5
Institute: / 1Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany
2Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, P.R.China
3East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Shanghai 200090, P.R. China
4State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Research Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, P.R. China
5College of Resources and Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, P.R. China
Authors email: / ,
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Tables: / 9
No. of Pages: / 20
Definitions of the geographical regions in the Yangtze River Drainage Basin
Jinsha River: The Yangtze River from Yushu (Qinghai Province) to Yibin in Sichuan province is called the Jinsha River, which has a total length of 3,496 km.
Tuotuo River: The Yangtze River arises from glaciers south of the Geladandong Mountain in Qinghai province and flows west for 343km where it meets with another origin river Danqu and forms the Tongtian River.
Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR): Three Gorges Reservoir stretches along the upstream of the Yangtze River from the boundary of Chongqing municipality to Sandouping/Yichang city in Hubei province.
Yangtze Estuary: The Yangtze Estuary occupies 700 km of the river’s 6,300 km length (Fig 1). Chongming Island ramifies the estuary into the South Branch and the North Branch. The South Branch constitutes the main stream of the estuary and receives above 95% of the total estuarine runoff, whereas the North Branch accounts for only about 5%. The main stream of the southern branch is divided into the south channel and north channel by Changxing Island. There are more than 30 branches in the Yangtze estuary, such as Baimao River, Yanglingtang River, Liuhe River, Gujing River, Huangpu River, Xinjianghai River and so on. The longest branch is Huangpu River. The sedimentation rate of the Yangtze estuary is 6.3-6.6 cm yr-1 (Wang et al. 2012b).
Yangtze River Delta: including Shanghai, southern Jiangsu province and northern Zhejiang province of China. The Yangtze River drains into the East China Sea. It covers an area of 99,600 km2 and is home to over 105 million people as of 2010, of which an estimated 80 million is urban.
Water Period: In general, the water of the River is at the lowest level in the dry season (December to April), at the highest level in rainy season (from July to September, potential flood events), and at the middle level in normal seasons (May to June and October to November) (Sun et al. 2002).
Table S1: Concentrations of PAHs in water and sediments from the Yangtze River and other water bodies in the world
Number of papers - Total papers: 21; PAHs in the Yangtze River: 15 (Water: 7; Sediment: 10)
Location / Sampling date / Na / Ʃ PAHs / Benzo[a]pyrene / ReferenceWater (ng/L)
Yangtze River Drainage Basin
Jinsha River (2002) / 2002/08 / 16 / 2.1×104-3.83×105 (Ø 1.06×105 / n.d. / (Huang et al. 2003)
Three Gorges Reservoir (2008) / 2008/05 / 16 / 14 -97 / 0.172-1.665 / (Wang et al. 2009)
Jialing River (2009) / 2009/08 / n.a. / 467-988 (Ø 721) / 0-5.49 (Ø 2.59) / (Cai et al. 2012b)
Wuhan section (MS) (2005) / 2005/06, 2005/12 / 16 / 322-6,235 (Ø 2,095) / n.d.-214 / (Feng et al. 2007)
Wuhan section (TB) (2005) / 2005/06, 2005/12 / 16 / 242-1,379 (Ø 681) / n.d.-279 / (Feng et al. 2007)
Jiangsu Section (MS) (2004-2005) / 2004/09, 2005/01 / 16 / 40-3,345 / n.d.-768 (Ø 256) / (He et al. 2011)
Tai Lake (2008) / 2008/10 / 16 / n.d.-92 / 4 / (Wang et al. 2011)
Yangtze Delta (2010) / 2010/06 / 16 / 12.9-638 (Ø 201) / n.d.-34.5 / (Zhang et al. 2012a)
Tai Lake (2010) / 2010/06 / 16 / 468.7 / 6.8 / (Zhang et al. 2012a)
Yangtze Estuary (SB) (2006) / 2006/02
2006/08 / 16 / 478-5,027 (Ø 1,727)
972-6,273 (Ø 1,988) / 10-11 / (Ou et al. 2009)
Other water bodies
Yellow River (Upper & Middle Reaches) (2007) / 2007/06 / n.a. / 97-477 / 1.6-7.18 / (Zhang & Zhang 2010)
Macao Harbor (2001) / 2001/04 / n.a. / 944-6,655 (Ø 4,124) / 0.01-0.11 / (Luo et al. 2004)
Pearl River (2001) / 2001/10 / n.a. / 987- 2,879 (Ø 1,796) / 0.01-0.02 / (Luo et al. 2004)
Location / Sampling date / Na / ƩPAHs / Benzo[a]pyrene / Reference
Sediments (ng/g, dry weight)
Yangtze River Drainage Basin
Chongqing section (MS) (2009) / 2009/10 / 16 / 256.7-723.1 (Ø 359) / 2.5-9.5 / (Tang et al. 2011)
Jialing River (2009) / 2009/10 / 16 / 131.7-348.8 (Ø 240) / 2.9-3.1 / (Tang et al. 2011)
Nanjing Section (MS) (n.a.) / n.a. / 17b / 213.8-550.32 / 0.06-52.12 / (Xu et al. 2000d)
Wuhan section (MS) (2005) / 2005/06 / 16 / 303-3,995 (Ø 2,032) / 0.7-95.4 (Ø 49.5) / (Feng et al. 2007)
Wuhan section (MS) (2005) / 2005/12 / 16 / 72-1,206 (Ø 497) / n.a. / (Feng et al. 2007)
Wuhan section (TB) (2005) / 2005/06 / 16 / 4,121-4,262 / 1.8-559.6 (Ø 93.8) / (Feng et al. 2007)
Wuhan section (TB) (2005) / 2005/12 / 16 / 31-4,813 (Ø 1,119) / n.a. / (Feng et al. 2007)
Huangpu River (2006) / 2006/10 / 19 c / 313-1,707 (Ø 1,154) / n.a. / (Liu et al. 2008b)
Yangtze Estuary (SB) (1996) / 1996/09 / n.a. / 80-11,740 / n.a. / (Liu et al. 2000)
Yangtze Estuary (2000) / 2000/05, 2000/08 / 10d / 263-6,372 (Ø 1662) / n.a. / (Liu et al. 2001)
Yangtze Estuary (SB) (2004) / 2004/04 / 16 / 84.6-620 (Ø 259) / <0.5-40.5 / (Hui et al. 2009b)
Yangtze Estuary (SB) (2005) / 2005/11 / 19c / 107-633 (Ø 309) / n.a. / (Liu et al. 2008b)
Yangtze Estuary (SB) (2006) / 2006/02, / 16 / 737-1,812 (Ø 1,154) / n.a. / (Ou et al. 2009)
Yangtze Estuary (SB) (2006) / 2006/08 / 16 / 235-1,516 (Ø 605) / n.a. / (Ou et al. 2009)
Yangtze Estuary (2010) / 2010/05, 2010/08 / 16 / 76.9 -2,936.8 (Ø 450) / n.a. / (Wang et al. 2012b)
Yangtze Estuary (2010) / 2010/11 / 16 / 90.14-502.12 (Ø 221) / n.a. / (Li et al. 2012a)
Other water bodies
Yellow River (Lanzhou Reaches) (2005) / 2005/06 / 16 / 1,415 / n.a. / (Yu et al. 2009)
Yellow Estuary (2004) / 2004/08 / 16 / 11-252 (Ø 91) / 0.2-12.5 / (Hui et al. 2009b)
Pearl Estuary (2002) / 2002/06 / 18e / 189-637 (Ø 362) / 4.9-24.9 / (Luo et al. 2006)
Pearl River (1997) / 1997/03 / 16 / 323-14,812 / 76-707 / (Mai et al. 2002)
Macao Harbor (1997) / 1997/03 / 16 / 9,220 / n.a. / (Mai et al. 2002)
San Francisco Bay (1993) / 1993 / 21f / 2,653-27,680 / 150-1,770 / (Pereira et al. 1996)
Abbreviations: 16 EPAPAHs: naphthalene (Nap), acenaphthylene (Acy), acenephthene (Ace), fluorene (Fle), phenanthrene (Phe), anthracene (An), fluoranthene (Flu), pyrene (Pyr), benzo(a)anthracene (BaA), chrysene (Chr), benzo(b)fluoranthene (BfF), benzo(k)fluofanthene (BkF), Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene (InD), dibenzo(a,h)anthracene (DahA), benzo(ghi)perylene (BghiP), ƩLMW-sum of two and three-ring PAHs, ƩHMW-sum of four and five ring PAHs
a –Number of PAH congers
b-16 EPA-PAHs + benzo(e)pyrene
c-16 EPA-PAHs + benzo(e) pyrene, perylene, methylnaphthalene
d- Nap, Acy, Ace, Fle, Phe, An, Flu, Pyr, BaA, Chr,
e-16 PAHs + benzo(e)pyrene+benzo(i+k)fluoranthene ,
f-16PAHs+2-methylnaphthalene, 1-methylanphthalene, 2-methylphenanthrene, 1-methylphenanthrene
n.a. - not available; n.d. - not detected; MS – Yangtze River main stream; TB – tributary; SB – south branch; Date: YYYY/MM
Table S2: Concentrations of PCBs in water and sediments from the Yangtze River and other water bodies in the world
Number of papers - Total papers: 16; PCBs in the Yangtze River: 13 (Water: 5; Sediment: 8)
Location / Sampling Date / Na / Ʃ PCBs / ReferenceWater (ng/L)
Yangtze River Drainage Basin
Three Gorges Reservoir (2004) / 2004/08, 2005/01 / 12b / n.d.-0.01 (Ø 0.002) / (Chen et al. 2008)
Three Gorges Reservoir (2008) / 2008/05 / 18c / 0.01-1 / (Wang et al. 2009)
Jiangsu Section (MS) (2004-2005) / 2004/09, 2005/01 / 6d / 0.21-44.4 (Ø 11) / (He et al. 2011)
Nanjing Section (MS) (1999) / 1998-1999 / 6d / n.d.-3 / (Sun et al. 2002)
Yangtze Delta (2009) / 2009/04 / 38e / 1-17 / (Zhang et al. 2011)
Other water bodies
Pearl River Delta (2005-2006) / 2005-2006 / 20f / 0.1-2 / (Guan et al. 2009)
Location / Sampling Date / Na / Ʃ PCBs / Reference
Sediments (ng/g)
Yangtze River Drainage Basin
Three Gorges Reservoir (2010) / 2010/11 / 28g / 0.484-3.531 / (Zhao et al. 2013)
Wuhan Section (MS) (2005) / 2005/12 / 39h / 1-45 (Ø 9) / (Yang et al. 2009)
Yangtze Delta (1998) / 1998/05 / 6i / 0.39-11.13 / (Xu et al. 2000b)
Yangtze Delta (2004) / 2004/12 / 23j / 0.92-9.7 (Ø 2.3) / (Shen et al. 2006)
Yangtze Estuary (SB) (2001) / 2001/02 / 7k / n.d.-19 / (Liu et al. 2003)
Yangtze Estuary (2003) / 2003/08 / 12l / 2.5-51 (Ø 13) / (Cheng, et al. 2006 )
Yangtze Estuary (2004) / 2004/04 / 12m / 1-30 / (Hui et al. 2009a)
Yangtze Estuary (2006) / 2006/05 / n.a. / 0.6-2.6 / (An et al. 2009)
Yangtze Estuary & adjacent East China Sea (2007) / 2007 / 22n / 5.08-19.6 (Ø 10) / (Yang et al. 2012)
Other water bodies
Yellow River Estuary (2004) / 2004/08 / 12o / 0.004-180 / (Hui et al. 2009a)
Pearl River Estuary (1997) / 1997/03 / 36n.a. / 10-486 / (Mai et al. 2002)
Elbe River / 2005 / 6p / 45-64 / (Kiersch et al. 2010)
Rhine River (n.a.) / n.a. / 3q / 1-32 / (Wölz et al. 2008)
Neckar River (n.a.) / n.a. / 3q / 1-14.5 / (Wölz et al. 2008)
Upper Danube River / n.a. / 3q / n.d.-0.2 / (Keiter et al. 2008)
a - Number of PCB congers
b - PCB-81, PCB-77, PCB-126, PCB-169, PCB-123, PCB-118, PCB-105, PCB-114, PCB-167, PCB-156, PCB-157, PCB-189
c - PCB-28, PCB-52, PCB-101, PCB-138, PCB-153, PCB-180, PCB-77, PCB-81, PCB-126, PCB-169, PCB-105, PCB-114, PCB-123, PCB-156, PCB-157, PCB-167, PCB-189
d - PCB-28, PCB-52, PCB-101, PCB-138, PCB-153, PCB-180
e - PCB-18, PCB-28, PCB-52, PCB-49, PCB-44, PCB-74, PCB-66, PCB-101, PCB-99, PCB-87, PCB-110, PCB-151, PCB-149, PCB-118, PCB-146, PCB-153, PCB-105, PCB-178, PCB-138, PCB-158, PCB-187, PCB-183, PCB-128, PCB-167, PCB-177, PCB-172, PCB-156, PCB-180, PCB-157, PCB-199, PCB-170, PCB-196, PCB-203, PCB-189, PCB-195, PCB-194, PCB-206, PCB-209
f - PCB-5, PCB-18, PCB-31, PCB-28, PCB-44, PCB-52, PCB-66, PCB-87, PCB-99, PCB-101, PCB-110, PCB-118, PCB-123, PCB-138, PCB-141, PCB-153, PCB-170, PCB-180, PCB-183 PCB-187
g - PCB-8, PCB-18, PCB-28, PCB-52, PCB-44, PCB-66, PCB-101, PCB-81, PCB-77, PCB-123, PCB-118, PCB-114, PCB-153, PCB-105, PCB-138, PCB-126, PCB-187, PCB-128, PCB-167, PCB-156, PCB-180, PCB-169, PCB-170, PCB-189, PCB-195, PCB-206,
h - PCB-8, PCB-18, PCB-28, PCB-44, PCB-52, PCB-66, PCB-77, PCB-101, PCB-105, PCB-118, PCB-126, PCB-128, PCB-138, PCB-153, PCB-170, PCB-180, PCB-187, PCB-195, PCB-206, PCB-209
i - PCB-28, PCB-52, PCB-101, PCB-153, PCB-138, PCB- 180
j - PCB-28, PCB-29, PCB-44, PCB-50, PCB-52, PCB-77, PCB-87, PCB-101, PCB-104, PCB-105, PCB-118, PCB-128, PCB-138, PCB-153, PCB-154, PCB-170, PCB-180, PCB-187, PCB-188, PCB-194, PCB-195, PCB-201 PCB-206
k - PCB-1, PCB-11, PCB-29, PCB-47, PCB-121, PCB-136, PCB-187
l - 1-9 CB
m - Dioxin-like PCBs, PCB-77, PCB-81, PCB-126, PCB-169, PCB-105, PCB-114, PCB-118, PCB-123, PCB-156, PCB-157, PCB-167, PCB-189
n - PCB-8, PCB-18, PCB-28, PCB-44, PCB-52, PCB-66, PCB-77, PCB-101, PCB-105, PCB-118, PCB-126, PCB-128, PCB-138, PCB-153, PCB-170, PCB-180, PCB-187, PCB-195, PCB-206, PCB-209, PCB-171, PCB-183
o - PCB-77, PCB-81, PCB-126, PCB-169, PCB-105, PCB-114, PCB-118, PCB-123, PCB-156, PCB-157, PCB-167, PCB-189
p - PCB-28, PCB-52, PCB-101, PCB-138, PCB-153, PCB-180
q - PCB-77, PCB-126, PCB-169
n.a. - not available; n.d. - not detected; MS – Yangtze River main stream; TB – tributary; SB – south branch; Date: YYYY/MM
Table S3: Concentrations of OCPs in water and sediments from the Yangtze River and other water bodies in China
Number of papers - Total papers: 16; OCPs in the Yangtze River: 12 (Water: 6; Sediment: 7)
Location / Date of sampling / ƩOCPs / ƩDDTsb / ƩHCHsc / ReferenceNa / Concentration
Water (ng/L)
Yangtze River Drainage Basin
Three Gorge Reservoir (2008) / 2008/05 / d / 2.33-3.60 / 0.52-1.07 / 0.1-0.63 / (Wang et al. 2009)
Sichuan section (MS) (2007) / 2007/06, 2007/08 / e / 0.56-1.82 / n.d. / 0.56-1.82 / (Liu et al. 2011)
Wuhan section (MS) (2005) / 2005/07, 2005/12 / f / 1.01-47( Ø10.55) / n.d.-17 ( Ø 1.5) / 0.55-28 ( Ø 6.7) / (Tang et al. 2008)
Nanjing section (MS) (1998) / 1998/05 / g / 14.61-15.83 / 0.52-1.15 ( Ø 0.8) / 0.14-1.47 ( Ø 0.2) / (Xu et al. 2000a)
Jiangsu section (MS) (2004-2005) / 2004- 2005 / e / 0.27-2.15 / 0.10-0.11q / n.a. / (He et al. 2011)
Jiangsu section (MS) (2007) / 2007 / e / 6.08-27.37 / 0.48-21.305 / 5.6-6.38 / (Liu et al. 2011)
Other water bodies
Yellow River (Middle & Lower Reaches) (2006) / 2006/05 / e / 3-109 / 0.06-10.84 / 0. 73-48. 09 / (Sun et al. 2009)
Pearl River (2005-2006) / 2005-2006 / i / 3-41 ( Ø 11) / 1.08-19.6( Ø 3.9) / 0.5-14.8 ( Ø3.7) / (Guan et al. 2009)
Macao Harbor (2001) / 2001/04 / j / 25-68 ( Ø 51) / 8.8-29.7 / 8.7-27 / (Luo et al. 2004)
Location / Date of sampling / ƩOCPs / ƩDDTsb / ƩHCHsc / Reference
Na / Concentration
Sediment (ng/g, dry weight)
Yangtze River Drainage Basin
Wuhan section (MS) (2005) / 2005/07, 2005/12 / k / 0.1-21 / 2-16 / 0.10-12 / (Tang et al. 2007b)