Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are ubiquitous in the aquatic environment, which have been considered or suspected as carcinogens and neurotoxicants. In this study, the occurrence, spatial distribution, potential sources, partitioning character and potential risks of OPEs in the surface water and sediment collected from Taihu Lake were investigated. The concentrations of ∑12 OPEs varied from 1.0 × 10² to 1.7 × 10³ ng/L for the surface water and from 8.1 to 4.2 × 10² ng/g dw for the sediment. Trimethyl phosphate (TEP) was the predominant congener in the surface water, while Tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP) in the sediment. Positive correlations between OPEs indicated that they may have the same sources and/or similar environmental behavior. The pseudo-partitioning values of OPEs ranged from 0.59 to 6.5 × 10⁴ L/kg. TEHP has the highest pseudo-partitioning coefficient, which indicated that TEHP inclined to be enriched in the sediment in Taihu Lake. Risk assessment (RQ) showed that individual OPEs in the surface water and sediment posed no/low risk to aquatic organisms, except 2-Ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPP) (moderate risk) in water.

有机磷酸酯（OPEs）在水生环境中无处不在，已被认为或怀疑是致癌物和神经毒性物质。本文研究了太湖地区地表水和沉积物中的OPEs的发生，空间分布，潜在来源，分配特征和潜在风险。 地表水的∑12 OPEs浓度范围从1.0×10 ²到1.7×10 ³ ng / L，从8.1到4.2×10 ²范围不等。 ng / g dw（沉积物）。磷酸三甲酯（TEP）是地表水中的主要同源物，而沉积物中的磷酸三（2-乙基己基）酯（TEHP）。OPE之间的正相关表明它们可能具有相同的来源和/或相似的环境行为。OPE的伪分配值范围为0.59至6.5×10 ⁴  L / kg。TEHP的假分配系数最高，表明太湖倾向于沉积在太湖沉积物中。风险评估（RQ）显示，除了水中的2-乙基己基二苯基磷酸酯（EHDPP）（中等风险）外，地表水和沉积物中的单个OPE对水生生物没有/低风险。