Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Organochlorine Pesticides in Two Coastal Sediment Cores in the Mong Cai Area, Vietnam

The Mong Cai coastal area is the border between Vietnam and China, un-der human impact, pollutants discharge into the sea through the Ka Long River. Organic chloride pesticides (OCPs), polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) in two sediment cores were analysed to know the human impacts on the sedimentary environment. In March 2020, two sediment cores were collected on the Mong Cai coast. Sediment cores were analysed with 7 PAHs and 10 OCPs, extracted by the 3540C method, clean up by the 3630C method, and measured by Agilent 5977 GC/MS equipment by method 8270E. PAHs within the core sediments show that there was no congener present fully in all layers. The concentration of PAHs in C1 at the near surface was below within the middle and bottom, but the trend was increasing since 2008 and the average congeners were lower than Interim Marine Sediment Quality Guidelines (ISQG) levels and decreased over time. In C2, total PAHs were increasing quite clearly over time. The origin of PAHs in Mong Cai is determined from petroleum combustion and burning biomass combustion. OCPs compounds still appeared in high concentrations both with-in the surface and deep layers. There have been 2 trends, the increasing trend was quite clearly observed in C1, and the decreasing trend is ob-served in C2. The origin of OCPs in Mong Cai is determined from using of pesticides in agriculture.