Historical records, sources, and spatial trends of PCBs along the Rhône River (France).
Despite bans on PCB use since 1975 (open systems) and 1987 (closed systems), concentrations of PCBs in riverine fish in France continue to exceed regulatory levels. We present historical records of PCB concentrations in sediment cores from eight sites on the Rhône River, from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea. Maximum PCB concentrations (sum of seven indicator PCBs) increase downstream, from 11.50 μg/kg at the most upstream site to 417.1 μg/kg at the most downstream site. At some sites peak concentrations occur in sediment deposited as recently as the 2000s. Hierarchical clustering (five clusters) identified differences in PCB congener profiles within and between sites. Exponential models fit to decadal time windows indicate that rapid reductions in concentrations during about 1990-2000 have slowed, and that it might be decades before target concentrations in sediment that correspond to regulatory thresholds in fish will be reached at some sites.
Université Lyon 1, UMR 5023 Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés, ENTPE, CNRS, 3, Rue Maurice Audin, 69518 Vaulx-en-Velin, France. Electronic address: brice.mourier@unilim.fr.
Brice
B
Mourier
Université de Tours, GéHCO EA 6293, 37000 Tours, France. Electronic address: marc.desmet@univ-tours.fr.
Marc
M
Desmet
U.S. Geological Survey, 1505 Ferguson Lane, Austin, TX 78754, USA. Electronic address: pcvanmet@usgs.gov.
Peter C
PC
Van Metre
U.S. Geological Survey, 1505 Ferguson Lane, Austin, TX 78754, USA. Electronic address: bjmahler@usgs.gov.
Barbara J
BJ
Mahler
Université Lyon 1, UMR 5023 Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés, ENTPE, CNRS, 3, Rue Maurice Audin, 69518 Vaulx-en-Velin, France. Electronic address: yves.perrodin@entpe.fr.
Yves
Y
Perrodin
Université Lyon 1, UMR 5023 Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés, ENTPE, CNRS, 3, Rue Maurice Audin, 69518 Vaulx-en-Velin, France. Electronic address: gwenaelle.roux@entpe.fr.
Gwenaëlle
G
Roux
Université Lyon 1, UMR 5023 Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés, ENTPE, CNRS, 3, Rue Maurice Audin, 69518 Vaulx-en-Velin, France. Electronic address: jeanphilippe.bedell@entpe.fr.
Jean-Philippe
JP
Bedell
UMR 8212 (CEA, CNRS, UVSQ), LSCE, Bât. 12, avenue de la Terrasse, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France. Electronic address: irene.lefevre@lsce.ipsl.fr.
Irène
I
Lefèvre
Irstea, UR MALY, rue de la Doua, CS70077, F-69626 Villeurbanne, France. Electronic address: marc.babut@irstea.fr.
Marc
M
Babut
D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism; D005602:France; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
Core; Fluvial sediment; Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); Rhône River; Spatial and temporal trends