Distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in an urban riparian zone affected by wastewater treatment plant effluent and the transfer to terrestrial compartment by invertebrates

Levels and distribution of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the aquatic and terrestrial environment around a wastewater treatment plant

“…However, due to the limited number of samples in this study, it is suggested that more research is needed to validate these findings. The median Σ 13 BDEs in the abiotic (54.1 ng/g OC), plant (11.8 ng/g lw), and biota (16.0 ng/g lw) samples were lower than the median Σ 25 PCBs (105 ng/g OC, 24.5 ng/g lw, and 23.9 ng/g lw, respectively) for the same sample set that was previously reported by Yu et al (2013). However, it should be noted that BDE-209, which usually is the most abundant congener in soil and sediment, was not analyzed in this study, and thus the total PBDE levels is most likely underestimated in the samples.…”

“…Previously, we have shown that the δ 13 C values of common reed plants (range −13.7 to −13.2) and grasshoppers (−18.1 to −17.7) in this area were significantly different compared to the rest of the samples (Yu et al 2013). Butterflies had the lowest δ 13 C at −28.2, while the remaining abiotic and biotic samples had δ 13 C values within a relatively narrow range of between −26.2 and −23.2 (Table 1), indicating that they share similar energy sources (red lines in Fig.…”

“…5 and were plotted against the log K ow values of the individual PBDE congeners. For comparison, previously calculated BSAFs for PCBs were also included (Yu et al 2013). In general, the BSAFs of different PBDE congeners varied between <0.01 and 5.5 and were similar or slightly higher than for PCBs.…”

“…Furthermore, a general trend with maximum BSAFs at same log K ow values could be found between PBDEs and PCBs for selected species. The BSAFs for PCBs were calculated from Yu et al (2013). The BSAF for large scarab larvae (Scar_L), small earthworms (Earth_S), and roots from reed plants (Reed_rd) were calculated against soil levels whereas Tubifex worms (Tubifex) were calculated against sediment.…”

“…Several studies have investigated the transfer of heavy metals and other POPs such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the aquatic to the terrestrial compartment (Sullivan and Rodewald 2012;Walters et al 2008), but very limited studies have been conducted for PBDEs. Previously, we analyzed PCBs and measured stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in samples collected at a riparian zone around an urban river receiving effluent from a WWTP in Beijing, China (Yu et al 2013). We found evidence of transfer of aquatic PCBs to the terrestrial environment, while the biota-sediment/soil accumulation factors (BSAFs) of individual PCB congeners were relatively low.…”