Signatures of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Marine Sediment and Their Relationship with Industrial Activities

Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are important members of the group of environmental contaminants known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Their high lipid solubility and resistance to degradation make them persistent in the environment. By virtue of ability to migrate, PCBs are transboundary in nature (Wania and Mackay, 1993). They are distributed globally via the atmosphere, oceans, and other pathways. Hence, PCBs are even detected in remote places such as pristine Arctic areas and oceans (Allen-Gil et al., 1997). The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) nominated 12 compounds, which included PCBs as high priority persistent organic pollutant (POPs) (UNEP, 2001). In this investigation, we have undertaken a congener-specific approach to PCB contamination in coastal regions of Korea, relating contamination levels and their characteristic regional signatures to respective industrial and harbor activities. Through statistical analysis of the data matrix hidden relationship between regional PCB signatures and possible point sources are evaluated. Principal component analysis (PCA) of congener-specific composition of PCBs revealed quite distinct regional patterns, especially at harbor region and steel works region (Fig. 1). A preponderance of high-chlorinated CBs was observed in harbor region. The overall pattern in harbor region bore a similarity to that of KC-600 (r2 = 0.51, p < 0.001), which was used in ship paint in the past (Maruyama et al., 1983). Highly chlorinated commercial mixtures such as Aroclor 1262 (Morrison et al., 2000) and Clophen A60 (http://www.naturvern.no/data/f/0/58/98/7_2401_0/rapport.en.pdf) have been used as additives. The good correlation of harbor sediments with a commercial PCB mixture suggests that the PCB residues in harbor zone come primarily from ship-related activities. A preponderance of high chlorinated CBs was more distinctive at front stations of a shipyard (correlation with KC-600; r2 = 0.71, p < 0.001