title: Concentrations and geographic distribution of selected organic pollutants in Scottish surface soils.
abstract: Concentrations of selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) representing three chemical classes (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and the organic pollutant diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), were determined in surface soil samples (0-5 cm) collected at 20 km grid intersects throughout Scotland over a three-year period. Detectable amounts of all chemical classes and most individual congeners were present in all samples. There were no consistent effects of soil or vegetation type, soil carbon content, pH, altitude or distance from centres of population on concentrations which exhibited extreme variation, even in adjacent samples. It is concluded that soil POPs and DEHP concentrations and associated rates of animal and human exposure were highly variable, influenced by multiple, interacting factors, and not clearly related to local sources but possibly related to wet atmospheric deposition and the organic carbon content of the soil.
authors.affiliation: The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Rhind
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Kyle
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osprey
authors.forename: Z L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: E I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Duff
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lilly
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nolan
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Towers
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coull
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McKenzie
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D012606:Scotland; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014887:Weather
chemical_list: D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Diethylhexyl phthalate; Endocrine disrupting compounds; Geographic variation; Persistent organic pollutants; Soil