Concentrations and Toxic Equivalency of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Polish Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents.
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are widely recognized as important sources of toxic contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). An example is given in the present paper, where concentrations of 12 dioxin-like PCBs (dl-PCBs) congeners were investigated in effluents from 14 WWTPs of different sizes, using gas chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry. The results obtained demonstrate that the smallest WWTPs are characterized by the highest total dl-PCB concentration of 102.69 pg/L, roughly twice those of medium-size and large WWTPs, i.e. 41.14 and 48.29 pg/L, respectively. In all cases, the concentrations obtained were generated mostly by increased contributions of PCB-77, PCB-105 and PCB-118 which constituted 48 %-59 % of the mean dl-PCB concentration. The results also reveal a predominance of mono-ortho over non-ortho PCBs. All three types of WWTP effluent were found to have similar toxic equivalency (TEQ) values, ranging from 0.31 for large to 0.37 pg TEQ/L for medium WWTPs.
European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Tylna 3, 90-364, Lodz, Poland. m.urbaniak@unesco.lodz.pl.|Department of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Banacha 12/16, 90-237, Lodz, Poland. m.urbaniak@unesco.lodz.pl.
Magdalena
M
Urbaniak
European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Tylna 3, 90-364, Lodz, Poland.|Department of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Banacha 12/16, 90-237, Lodz, Poland.
Edyta
E
Kiedrzyńska
D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D011044:Poland; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D018508:Water Purification
D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Effluents; PCBs; TEQ; Wastewater treatment plant