SCNU Environmental Research Institute (SERI) conducted a field sampling campaign in a large-scale coastal aquacultural environment along the Chinese coast for more than a month.
The purpose of this fieldwork is to investigate the chemical pollution and associated ecological health risk assessment in marine aquaculture areas of coastal cities of China, focusing on the contamination of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes and their impacts on the ecosystem and human health, as well as a survey of microplastics in these areas.
Professor Guang-Guo Ying’s team made a preliminary investigation into the costal environmental pollution status and aquaculture industry in the coastal areas including Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan before making a plan, doing the preparation and field sampling.
The fieldwork lasted from July 24 to September 18, 2019. The sampling team consists of some staff and postgraduate students. The sampling sites include Wafangdian and Dengsha Estuary from Dalian (Liaoning Province), Rongcheng and Xunshan (Shandong Province), Yancheng (Jiangsu), Xiangshan Harbour (Zhejiang), Ningde and Dongshan (Fujian), Yangjiang (Guangdong), Beihai (Guangxi), Qionghai and Lingshui (Hainan). They collected water, fish and microplastic samples.
The team successfully completed this challenging fieldwork. Field sampling is one of the essential tasks for environmental research. By doing this field sampling, the team members particularly the postgraduates gained the key skills of fieldwork and showed great teamwork.
