title: Status, distribution and ecological risk of organochlorines (OCs) in the surface sediments from the Ravi River, Pakistan.
abstract: Organochlorines (OCs) including organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) were analyzed in surface sediments from the Ravi River, Punjab, Pakistan. Among the OCPs, hexachlorocyclohexane (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDTs) and chlordane (cis- and trans-) were most abundant and their concentrations were ranged from n.d to 16.0 ng g(-1), 1.5 to 58.5 ng g(-1) and n.d to 29.0 ng g(-1), respectively. Concentrations of Σ31PCBs ranged from 4.6 to 424.3 ng g(-1) with a mean value of 48.9 ng g(-1). In general, the concentrations of all studied organochlorines (OCs) in sediments collected from the sampling sites in the vicinity of industrial areas were higher than those from the agricultural areas. Compositional analyses of PCBs indicated that penta- and tetra-PCBs homologues were dominant which was consistent with the previous studies. Compared with other areas around the world, levels of OCs in sediments from the Ravi River were within the range, but were found to be much higher than previously reported from Pakistan. According to established sediment quality guidelines (SQGs), screening-level risk assessment of OCPs and PCBs suggested that they have a potential for adverse effects on benthic organisms.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology Laboratory, Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Jabir Hussain
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Riffat Naseem
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: chaemfa@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Chakra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chaemfa
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Gan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK.
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D003634:DDT / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D001556:Hexachlorocyclohexane / Q000032:analysis; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000032:analysis*; D010154:Pakistan; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001556:Hexachlorocyclohexane; D003634:DDT; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Organochlorines; Potential sources; Ravi River; Risk assessment; Spatial distribution; Surface sediments