Atmospheric input of POPs into Lake Maggiore (Northern Italy): PBDE concentrations and profile in air, precipitation, settling material and sediments (original) (raw)
Related papers
Chemosphere, 2008
The delivery and accumulation of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs (DL-PCBs) as recorded in sediments from the Lake Maggiore (LM) in Northern Italy and the influence of the atmosphere in contaminating this subalpine ecosystem were studied. PCDD/Fs (17 congeners) and DL-PCBs (12 congeners) concentrations, congener profiles and fluxes in air, bulk deposition, aquatic settling material and surface sediments are presented. Our strategy was to obtain surface sediment from areas near riverine inputs and in the depositional basins, settling material in sediment traps at one site and air, aerosol and bulk deposition profiles. PCDD/F concentrations in air of 25 WHO-TEQ fg m À3 and DL-PCBs of 7 WHO-TEQ fg m À3 were measured. Bulk atmospheric deposition yielded 140 and 28 WHO-TEQ pg m À2 per week for dioxins/furans and DL-PCBs, respectively. Aquatic settling material exhibited concentrations of 11 WHO-TEQ pg g À1 for PCDD/Fs and 2 WHO-TEQ pg g À1 for DL-PCBs. Weekly settling material fluxes of 50 WHO-TEQ pg m À2 and 10 WHO-TEQ pg m À2 were obtained for PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs, respectively. PCDD/Fs concentrations in surface sediments varied from 0.1 to 17 WHO-TEQ pg g À1 whereas values ranged from 0.03 to 6 WHO-TEQ pg g À1 for DL-PCBs. The concentrations obtained in the environmental compartments studied suggest a situation of low level contamination. PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs congener profiles in atmospheric air, bulk deposition, aquatic settling matter and surface sediment point to an important if not dominant contribution from atmospheric deposition to Lake Maggiore, especially derived from wet deposition of aerosol-bound PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs. Flux estimates support this hypothesis.
Environmental Pollution, 2008
Ambient concentrations, congener patterns and multi-media distribution of PCDD/Fs and PCBs were determined in air, water, sediment and mussels in a semi-enclosed marine ecosystem (Thau lagoon, France). P 2,3,7,8-PCDD/F and P 7ICES PCB air concentrations (0.2e1.4 and 31e57 pg m À3 , respectively) were typical of rural areas. Concentrations in the water column were very low for PCDD/Fs (163e476 fg L À1 ) and low for PCBs (138e708 pg L À1 ). PCDD/F and PCB concentrations found in surface sediment (0.15e1.6 and 2.5e33 ng g À1 d.w., respectively) and mussel (13e21 pg g À1 d.w. and 10e39 ng g À1 d.w., respectively) were medium levels. PCDD/F congener patterns observed in air, water particulate phase and sediments were similar suggesting direct coupling among these compartments and atmospheric inputs of PCDD/Fs into the lagoon. Conversely, for the same set of samples, similar patterns were not observed for PCBs in the mentioned compartments.
PCDD/F and PCB history in dated sediments of a rural lake
Chemosphere, 2002
Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), dibenzofurans (PCDF) and biphenyls (PCB) were analysed from a sediment core, which had been sampled from a remote lake in Finland. The deepest subsamples were analysed from a depth of 4.0 m, and were more than 8000 years old. At the surface of the sediment core, low levels of industrial background contamination were detected. The sum of 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/Fs was 35 ng/kg d.w. (dry weight), or 1.2 ng/kg d.w. in WHO's toxicity equivalent, WHO-TEQ. The annual accumulation rate of 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/Fs was 1.26 ng m À2 a À1 . Deeper in the core, PCDD/F concentrations ranged between 2.11 and 11.1 ng/kg d.w. (0.24 and 1.70 ng/kg d.w. WHO-TEQ) and the accumulation rate was 0.11 ng m À2 a À1 . A characteristic PCDD/F congener profile was found in all pre-industrial sediment layers. The order of concentrations was OCDD > 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD > 1,2,3,7,8,9-HxCDD > 1,2,3,4,7,8-HxCDD > 2,3,7,8-TCDD, and concentrations of 2,3,7,8chlorinated dibenzofurans were below the detection limit. Similar congener profiles have previously been described in samples for which natural PCDD/F formation has been proposed. PCBs were present at low levels in all of the sediment samples. The sum of the PCB concentrations of the sediment subsamples ranged between 50 and 2540 ng/kg d.w., and the three predominant congeners in the core were PCBs 18, 52, and 110. Ó
Chemosphere, 2007
Dated sediment cores provide an excellent way to investigate the historical input of persistent organic pollutants into the environment and to identify possible sources of pollution. The vertical distribution of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) and polychlorinated biphenlys (PCB) was investigated in a sediment core from Greifensee to elucidate the historical trends of PCDD/F and PCB inputs between 1848 and 1999. Concentrations of PCB and PCDD/F increased by more than one order of magnitude between 1930 and 1960. PCB and PCDD/F concentrations were 5700 ng/kg dry weight (dw) and 160 ng/kg dw, respectively, in sediments originating from the late 1930s and reached a maximum of 130 000 ng/kg dw and 2400 ng/kg dw, respectively, in the early 1960s. From 1960 on, concentrations decreased to the 1930s level by the mid 1980s. A remarkable shift in the PCDD/F pattern was observed after the early 1940s. Before 1940, the PCDD/F pattern was PCDF dominated (ratio of PCDD to PCDF = 0.41 ± 0.11), while the PCDD started to be the major species after the early 1940s (ratio of PCDD to PCDF = 1.46 ± 0.38).
Environmental Science & Technology, 2015
We investigated the major sources of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and interpreted the environmental fate processes of these persistent organic pollutants in the past and current PCB contamination of three large, urbanized, French peri-alpine lakes. Dated sediment cores were analyzed in order to reconstruct and compare the historical contamination in all three lakes. Stratigraphic changes of PCB contents and fluxes were considered as revealing the temporal dynamics of PCB deposition to the lakes and the distribution of the seven indicator congeners (further referred to as PCBi) as an indicator of the main contamination origin and pathway. Although located within a single PCB industrial production region, concentration profiles for the three lakes differed in timing, peak concentration magnitudes, and in the PCBi congeners compositions. PCBi fluxes to the sediment and the magnitude of the temporal changes were generally much lower in Lake Annecy (0.05−2 ng•cm −2 •yr −1) as compared to Lakes Geneva (0.05−5 ng•cm −2 •yr −1) and Bourget (5−290 ng•cm −2 •yr −1). For all three lakes, the paramount contamination occurred in the early 1970s. In Lakes Annecy and Bourget, PCB fluxes have declined and plateaued at 0.5 and 8 ng•cm −2 •yr −1 , respectively, since the early 1990s. In Lake Geneva, PCB fluxes have further decreased by the end of the XX th century and are now very low. For the most contaminated lake (Lake Bourget), the high PCBi flux (5−290 ng•cm −2 •yr −1) and the predominance of heavy congeners for most of the time period are consistent with a huge local input to the lake. This still high rate of Lake Bourget is explained by transport of suspended solids from one of its affluents, polluted by an industrial point source. Intermediate historical levels and PCBi distribution over time for Lake Geneva suggest a mixed contamination (urban point sources and distant atmospheric transport), while atmospheric deposition to Lake Annecy explains its lowest contamination rate. The presently low contamination levels recorded in Lake Geneva correspond to atmospheric inputs, but the recent PCBi distribution of Lake Annecy, enriched in relatively heavy congeners, reveals a contamination by the neighboring Lake Bourget, following a halo effect of about 40 km radius.
Recent DDT and PCB contamination in the sediment and biota of the Como Bay (Lake Como, Italy)
Science of The Total Environment, 2016
and PCB (1970s-2009) was recorded in a sediment core in Como Bay. • A decreasing trend was observed for PCB whose main source is the city of Como. • DDT showed no significant change over time because of input from glacier releases. • Biomagnification was recorded between zooplankton and a zooplanktivorous fish. • Concentrations of PCB exceeded human health recommendations in one fish samples.
Journal of Soils and Sediments
Purpose The purpose of the study was to determine the levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDD/F), two types of persistent organic pollutant (POP), in an urban retention reservoir located in an industrial zone within a coal-mining region. It also assesses the potential ecological risk of the PCDDs/Fs present in bottom sediments and the relationship between their content and the fraction of organic matter. Materials and methods The sediment samples were collected from Rybnik Reservoir, located in the centre of the Rybnik Coal Region, Silesia, one of Poland’s major industrial centres. Seventeen PCDD/F congeners in the surface of the sediments were analysed using high-resolution gas chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). Results and discussion The toxic equivalency (TEQ) of the PCDDs/Fs in the sediments ranged from 1.65 to 32.68 pg TEQ g−1. PCDDs constituted 59–78% of the total PCDDs/Fs, while the PCDFs accounted for 2...
Chemosphere, 2008
Poly bro mi nated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are char ac ter ized by chem i cal prop er ties and tox i co log i cal pro files sim i lar to other POPs (per sis tent organic pol lu tants) included in the EU Pri or ity Pol lu tant List (2455/01/CE). How ever, limited data have been avail able for these com pounds thus far for Ital ian freshwa ter abi otic matri ces. Lake Mag gi or e basin, a heav ily indus tri al ized and densely pop u lated area, was selected for study ing PBDE con tam i na tion in Italy. PBDEs and OCs (orga no chlo rine com pounds) in the basin were quan ti fied by anal y sing both sed i ment cores col lected in 2005 from the lake and grab samples from the main trib u tar ies and the emis sary. Four teen PBDEs, from tri-BDE to hepta-BDE cong en ers and BDE209, were com pared with some orga no chlo rine POPs (PCBs and DDTs) char ac ter iz ing Lake Maggi or e basin con tam i na tion. Anal y ses of tri-to hepta-BDEs, PCBs and DDTs were under taken by GC-MS/ MS, while BDE-209 was ana lysed by GC/ECD. Results showed a dom i nant pres ence of BDE-209 (>95% of RBDE) and lim ited amounts of BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-100, BDE-153 and BDE-154. Lake core pro files high lighted a decreas ing trend in PCB con cen tra tions start ing from the year 2000, while PBDEs showed greater con cen tra tions after the begin ning of the 1990s (up to 30 ng g ¡1 d.w.). Among the trib u tar ies, the Bar del lo and Boe sio riv ers were the most PBDE-con tam i nated (up to 290 ng g ¡1 d.w.).
Concentrations of Airborne PCBs Over Lake Michigan
Journal of Great Lakes Research, 1981
ABSTSRA CT. Air samples were collected on Lake Michigan and analyzed for polycholorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Concentrations of PCBs in air from two urban areas (Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin) were also measured for comparison purposes. Values of PCB concentrations (filterable + nonfilterable) in air over Lake Michigan exhibited both a lower average (l.0 ng/m 3 ) and a narrower range (0.63 -1.46 ng/ m 3 ) than those from the urban areas (-5 ng/ m 3 and 0.8 -8.07 ng/ m 3 , respectively). The average ratio offilterable to nonfilterable airborne PCBs, thought to be a reasonable indication of particulate vapor phase partitioning, was about 1:11 for the three sampling locations. The PCB vapor composition at the three sampling areas was predominantly Aroclor 1242. Particulate PCBs over Lake Michigan were enriched in Aroclor 1242 when compared to those collected in Milwaukee and Madison.