Trends in background levels of persistent organic pollutants at Kosetice observatory, Czech Republic. : Part II. Aquatic and terrestrial environments 1996–2005

Abstract

A multimedia sampling of ambient air, wet deposition, surface water, sediment, soil and biota has been performed at Kosetice background observatory in the southern Czech Republic since 1988. An integrated monitoring approach was applied to assess the current state, anthropogenic impacts, and possible future changes of terrestrial and freshwater environments. Average PCB concentrations in the individual matrices calculated from ten years of sampling on multiple sites varied between 2 ng g(-1) in sediment and 7 ng g(-1) in soil or moss. DDT concentrations were lower in moss and needles (2 ng g(-1) and 4 ng g(-1), respectively) than in sediment (11 ng g(-1)) and soil (20 ng g(-1)), while the HCH level was higher in moss and needles (5 ng g(-1) and 6 ng g(-1), respectively) than in soil or sediment (1 ng g(-1) and 2 ng g(-1), respectively). The highest average level of PAHs was found in soil (600 ng g(-1)), while it was lower in needles (230 ng g(-1)), moss (210 ng g(-1)) or sediment (210 ng g(-1)). Time related trends of concentration levels of persistent organic pollutants in all matrices were investigated. Moss and needle trend patterns resembled those of the ambient air, showing a slight concentration decrease of all compounds, except for hexachlorobenzene. The soil, water and sediment concentrations showed a similar decrease of PAHs, PCBs, and HCHs, but there was no clear trend for DDTs and HCB.

Biochemical parameters in Tubifex tubifex as an integral part of complex sediment toxicity assessment

“…Nonpolar extractable compounds (NEC) were analyzed in all samples using a standard IR spectrophotometric method complying with the ISO TR 11 046 (1994). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contents in sediment samples were measured using GC (gas chromatography) mass spectrometry (Holoubek et al 2007). Concentration of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (such as DDT) was determined by GC electron capture detector (Holoubek et al 2007).…”

“…Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contents in sediment samples were measured using GC (gas chromatography) mass spectrometry (Holoubek et al 2007). Concentration of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (such as DDT) was determined by GC electron capture detector (Holoubek et al 2007). Organic carbon content was characterized as loss-onignition by drying the sample at 550°C for 5 h following EN 12879 (2001).…”

Historical Changes in Levels of Organic Pollutants in Sediment Cores from Brno Reservoir, Czech Republic

“…Owing to an intensive agricultural and industrial production in past few decades, in particular, river and reservoir sediments in the Czech Republic are loaded with POPs and their levels are only slowly decreasing (Holoubek et al 2000(Holoubek et al , 2003(Holoubek et al , 2007. In contrast to soil contamination monitored regularly in the Czech Republic since the late 1970s (Svobodova et al 2003), there are very limited data available on POPs in sediment cores, especially no data prior to the 1970s (e.g., Bábek et al 2008).…”

Hexachlorobenzene sources, levels and human exposure in the environment of China

“…HCB levels in the needles in China are similar to those (1.4-30 ng/g dry wt.) in Europe (Calamari et al, 1994;Holoubek et al, 2007), but are generally higher than those in Africa and Canada (Davidson et al, 2004;Tremolada et al, 1993) (Table 6). …”