title: Meteorological and pedological influence on the PCBs distribution in mountain soils.
abstract: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a threat to environmental and human health due to their persistence and toxicological effects. In this paper, we analyse some meteorological and organic-matter-related effects on their distribution in the soils of an Alpine environment that is not subject to direct contamination. We collected samples and measured the contamination of 12 selected congeners from three soil layers (O, A1 and A2) and from North-, plain- and South-facing slopes on six different dates spanning the entire snowless portion of the year. We recorded the hourly air and soil temperatures, humidity and rainfall in the study period. We found evidence that PCBs contamination in soils varies significantly, depending on sampling date, layer and aspect. The observed seasonal trend shows an early summer peak and a rapid decrease during June. The layer effect demonstrates higher dry-weight-based concentrations in the O layer, whereas the differences are much smaller for SOM-based concentrations. Different factors caused significantly higher concentrations in northern soils, with a N/S enrichment factor ranging from 1.8 to 1.5 during the season. The southern site has significantly more rapid early-summer re-volatilisation kinetics (half-time of 16d for South, 25d for North).
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, Milan, Italy. niccolo.guazzoni@unimi.it
authors.forename: Niccolò
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guazzoni
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Comolli
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cola
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parolini
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Binelli
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tremolada
mesh_terms: D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008956:Models, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D014887:Weather
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls