Organic ultraviolet filters in Hainan Coral Reefs: Distribution, Accumulation, and Ecological Risks

Fengtong Chang; Xiuran Yin; Hanye Ju; Yankun Zhang; Lianzheng Yin; Xueqing Zhou; Yujie Feng; Xiaoping Diao

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2024.125541

Organic ultraviolet filters in Hainan Coral Reefs: Distribution, Accumulation, and Ecological Risks

Environ Pollut. 2024 Dec 18:125541. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.125541. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Fengtong Chang¹, Xiuran Yin², Hanye Ju³, Yankun Zhang⁴, Lianzheng Yin⁵, Xueqing Zhou⁶, Yujie Feng⁷, Xiaoping Diao⁸

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China; School of Environment and Ecology, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China. Electronic address: changft@hainanu.edu.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China. Electronic address: yin@uni-bremen.de.
³ College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, Hainan, China. Electronic address: 2742414883@qq.com.
⁴ College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, Hainan, China. Electronic address: 1029263033@qq.com.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China. Electronic address: 563922031@qq.com.
⁶ Analytical & Testing Center, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China; Center for Advanced Studies in Precision Instruments, Hainan University Haikou 570228, China. Electronic address: zhouxq001@hainanu.edu.cn.
⁷ Institute of Plant Protection, Hainan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571100, China; Research Center of Quality Safety and Standards for Agricultural Products of Hainan Academy of Agricultural Science, Haikou 571100, China. Electronic address: fengyujie@hnaas.org.cn.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China. Electronic address: diaoxip@hainanu.edu.cn.

PMID: 39706560
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.125541

Abstract

Organic ultraviolet filters (OUVFs) have been widely used as functional ingredients of sunscreen products and have entered into marine ecosystems, particularly in tropical areas where solar UV radiation is strong. These chemicals, with their potential toxicity and ecological risk, have raised widespread concern for the protection of the fragile marine ecosystem of coral reefs. In this study, fourteen OUVFs were analyzed among 24 coral species, together with their habitats including seawater and sediment from the coastal coral reef regions of Hainan Island, South China Sea. Surprisingly, all of fourteen OUVFs were detected in each sample, indicating the wide distribution of OUVFs among sites and samples. Among the fourteen OUVFs, benzophenone-3 (BP-3) and 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC) were the most abundant, with concentrations ranging from 35.3 to 75.6 and 38.3 to 61.4 ng/L in seawater, 13.2 to 25.9 and 7.0 to 17.4 ng/g dw in sediment, and 4.5 to 21.3 and 4.4 to 19.7 ng/g dw in corals, respectively. Analysis of OUVFs in 24 coral species pointed that OUVFs accumulation in corals is morphology dependent: the highest concentration of OUVFs was identified in Galaxea fascicularis with abundant of polyps and tentacles while the lowest levels of OUVFs were found in Porites mayeri (smooth or lobed surface). In corals, we found that these OUVFs accumulated, depending on the coral species and the types of OUVFs. The ecological risk assessment further indicated that BP-3, 4-MBC and BP-8 had posed risks to corals. In addition, significantly higher concentrations of OUVFs were observed in Sanya (a seaside tourist resort) than in the other sites, suggesting that tourist activity and use of sunscreen products are the key to high inputs of sunscreen agents into marine ecosystem. Overall, our study demonstrates a potential risk role for OUVFs in coral protection in tropical areas where coral bleaching events occur.

Keywords: Bioaccumulation; Coral communities; Distribution; Ecological risks; Hainan; Organic ultraviolet filters.