Quantification of sources of PCBs to the atmosphere in urban areas: A comparison of cities in North America, Western Europe and former Yugoslavia

We present estimated emission source strengths of seven polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners for Banja Luka, a city that was affected by the civil war in Bosnia and Hercegovina (former Yugoslavia) in the 1990s. These emission estimates are compared to PCB emission rates estimated for the cities of Zurich, Switzerland, and Chicago, USA using an approach that combines multimedia mass balance modeling and measurement data. Our modeled per-capita emission estimates for Banja Luka are lower by a factor of ten than those for Zurich and Chicago, which are similar. This indicates that the sources of PCB emissions in Banja Luka are likely to be weaker than in the Western European and North American cities which show relatively high PCB emissions. Our emission rates from the three cities agree within a factor of ten with emission estimates from a global PCB emission inventory derived from production and usage estimates and emission factors.     

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in Mussels along the Chilean Coast

- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1065/espr2006.01.011 Goal, Scope and Background Chile signed the Stockholm Convention, which establishes measures to reduce or eliminate Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) release into the environment, including the prohibition of their use and reduction of secondary products release, as well as management related with waste treatment. Among POPs, PCBs are a family of 209 compounds that differ in chlorine level and position. These substances present a wide variability in their physicochemical properties such as vapor pressure, water solubility and partition coefficients that determine their behavior and mobility within the different environmental compartments. In Chile, as in other countries, the use of these compounds were and continue to occur in diverse industrial applications such as dielectric fluid in transformers and condensers, with a use in Chile of approximately 550,000 L. A sampling of bivalves was performed during the years 2000-2002 in order to obtain information on the spatial distribution of the PCB levels for the length of the long Chilean coast (180–540 South latitude, 4,200 km), contributing in this way to a better understanding of the PCB trend and eventual fractionation along latitudinal gradients in Chile, using as the bivalve Perumytilus purpuratus ('Chorito Maico') bioindicator. Methods The marine bivalves Perumytilus purpuratus were collected in 16 localities in northern and southern Chile. All samples were lyophilized, and PCBs (51 congeners) were extracted in a Soxhlet system (24 h) with n-hexane. Samples were cleaned in florisil and analyzed by GC-ECD. Blanks, certified reference materials and standards were processed along with the samples. Results and Discussion The results obtained for P. purpuratus indicate a congeneric distribution profile associated to a latitudinal gradient, and the statistical analysis of the congeneric composition of the PCBs indicated five groups in relation to the molecular weight (number of chlorines), where the lighter congeners were observed in areas corresponding to high latitudes with total PCB values of 298 ng/g dry weight. Conclusion P. purpuratus turns out to be a good bioindicator of PCB levels in the coastal areas of Chile due to its wide distribution. The highest concentrations and the more volatile congeners were found in southern Chile, which could be the result of processes of long-range transport or illegal discharge occurring in such remote areas. These results confirm previous data from the International Mussel Watch project ten years ago. Recommendation and Outlook Future studies are needed to confirm our findings utilizing another environmental matrix such as soil/sediments and air samples.     

某人工湿地系统对水中持久性有机污染物去除效果的分析

采用固相萃取样品前处理技术和气相色谱/电子捕获检测器(GC/ECD)及气相色谱/质联联用(GC/MS)分析方法,对某人工湿地系统进、出水中持久性有机污染物(包括多环芳烃、多氯联苯、有机氯农药)的质量浓度进行了分析和对比,以研究该湿地水中持久性有机物的污染水平及湿地对它们的处理效果.结果表明,多环芳烃检出19种,以二环为主,萘及其同系物约占总量的71%;有机氯农药只检出HCH的4种异构体和七氯;多氯联苯检出5种,以二氯代为主.这3类物质的浓度水平明显低于以往的研究结果,且低于国家地表水环境质量标准(GB 3838-2002).对于持久性有机物浓度较低的水源水,湿地对以上3类物质的去除效果不明显.     

太湖流域水源地多氯联苯分布特征与污染水平

为系统了解太湖流域主要水源地多氯联苯(PCBs)的污染现状,于2012年3月和6月分别采集水相、悬浮颗粒物和沉积物样品,并利用气相色谱-质谱联用仪(GC-MS)对PCBs的浓度进行了分析。结果表明,3月水相、悬浮颗粒物和沉积物中均未检测出PCBs类物质。6月水相中PCBs质量浓度在ND~1.04 ng·L~(-1)之间,平均值为0.57 ng·L~(-1),悬浮颗粒物和沉积物中PCBs质量浓度分别在0.96~2.72 ng·g-1和0.47~1.29 ng·g-1之间。Aroclor 1016和Aroclor 1260在3种介质中均有检出,且Aroclor1016浓度均为最高。与国内外研究相比较,太湖流域主要水源地PCBs污染水平较低。水相中PCBs浓度水平低于我国地表水环境质量标准;悬浮颗粒物和沉积物中PCBs浓度水平均低于加拿大保护水生环境沉积物化学品风险评价标准的LEL值,说明各样点PCBs对底栖动物无毒性影响。     

甲醇溶液中多氯联苯的微波降解

采用微波降解多氯联苯，对影响多氯联苯降解率的反应温度、反应时间、搅拌方式、试剂加入量等因素进行了考察和优化，结果表明：在反应温度为50℃、反应时间为10min、充分搅拌的条件下，溶液中多氯联苯的降解率可达99．999％。经初步分析确定，多氯联苯的降解产物为无毒的烃类、碳、氯离子和水等物质。     

水杨酸对多氯联苯污染土壤的修复和微生物群落结构的影响

以浙江省台州电子垃圾拆解地附近多氯联苯污染的农田土壤为研究对象,考察了施肥基础上添加不同剂量水杨酸(5、10、20 mmol·kg-1)对土壤中多氯联苯的去除、脱氢酶活、微生物群落结构及联苯双加氧酶基因相对丰度的影响.结果表明,施肥和施肥基础上添加水杨酸均能显著提高多氯联苯的去除率(p0.05),其中,三氯联苯的去除率最高(28.98%~34.53%).土壤脱氢酶活与多氯联苯去除率随水杨酸添加量的升高呈先增大后减小的趋势,均在10 mmol·kg-1水杨酸处理中达到最大.PCR-DGGE结果显示,水杨酸处理土壤中新增伯克氏菌属(Burkholderia)、潘多拉菌属(Pandoraea)、噬油脂极小单胞菌属(Pusillimonas)、鞘脂菌属(Sphingobium)、甲基杆菌属(Methylobacterium)和青枯菌属(Ralstonia).Shannon指数表明,10 mmol·kg-1水杨酸处理下土壤微生物最为丰富(p0.05).荧光定量PCR显示,bph A基因在不同处理间没有显著差异,但施肥和施肥基础上添加10、20 mmol·kg-1的水杨酸处理都显著提高了bph D.1.B、bph D.1.C、bph D.2.A和bph D.2.A/B基因的相对丰度.     

六六六热解废渣中2,3,7,8—取代PCDDs和PCDFs的测定

采用ＨＰＬＣ和ＧＣ／ＭＳ法对六六六热解废渣中的ＰＣＤＤｓ和ＰＣＤＦｓ进行了测定，使用此种方法，于废渣中检出了所有２，３，７，８－取代的同系物。此外，还根据各ＣＤＤｓ，ＣＤＦｓ的毒性当量因子ＴＥＦｓ，计算了废渣的毒性当量ＴＥＱｓ，约为６１２－９２４μｇ／ｇ。分析表明，ＯＣＤＤ是含量最丰富的导构体，而１，２，３，４，６，７，８－ＨｐＣＤＤ，１，２，３，４，６，７，８－ＨｐＣＤＦ和１，２，３，４，７，８     

PCDTs in the environment

Polychlorinated dibenzothiophenes (PCDTs) are sulfur analogues of polychlorinated dibenzofurans. Recently, PCDTs have been found in stack gas and fly ash samples, pulp mill effluents, sediments and in some aquatic organisms. PCDTs have been analyzed by high resolution GC/MS and by other GC-MS techniques. Combustion is until now the major known source of PCDTs in the environment. Tri-, tetra- and pentaCDTs in concentrations approaching those of PCDTs have been analyzed in some samples from waste incineration and metal reclamation. Concentrations of PCDTs in pulp mill effluents have been found to be quite low. 2378-TeCDT was found to be the major TeCDT isomer in some pulp mill effluents. Preliminary toxicological investigations have shown that PCDTs possess some kind of dioxin type toxicity.     

Characteristics of sorption losses of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners onto glass surfaces

Sorption losses to glass surfaces of five polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in aqueous solutions were investigated. Adsorption/desorption experiments were conducted under conditions that simulated actual sample handling procedures for environmental samples. It was found that the adsorption loss is related to the degree of chlorination. PCB congener 180 lost the most onto glass surfaces, followed by congeners 138, 101/28, and 52, in decreasing order. More PCB adsorption occurred onto glass under conditions of agitation and higher temperature (22°C) during the five-day experimental period. The salinity effect (“salting out effect”) was also observed in this work. The efficiency of desorption (rinsing three times with solvent) was found to be ineffective in extracting adsorbed PCBs. It was necessary to use mechanical shaking for extraction. Storage of samples up to five days resulted in sorption losses as much as 30%, 17%, 30%, 40%, and 55% of PCB 28, 52, 101, 138, and 180, respectively. Sorption losses need to be considered when conducting water sampling or toxicological studies to avoid underestimation of the actual PCB concentrations and their toxic effects.     

Levels of PCDDs and PCDFs in products and effluent from the Swedish pulp and paper industry and chloralkali process

Within the Swedish Dioxin Survey various samples from the pulp and paper industry and the chloralkali process have been analyzed by congener specific analytical methods. In addition to the generally discussed “bleaching pattern” of the tetrachlorinated congeners, these samples also contained higher chlorinated congeners like hexa-CDDs, hepta-CDFs, octa-CDD and octa-CDF. Consequently it is recommended that samples from the pulp industry should be analyzed for all PCDDs and PCDFs (tetra- through octa-). Counted as Nordic Toxic Equivalents (NTEQ), the recycled pulp samples had the highest contamination level followed by TMP, unbleached sulfite and bleached softwood and hardwood. In addition to the bleaching process, various chemicals used in the pulping, bleaching and wastewater treatment can contribute to the contamination.