Assessment of PCBs in Surface Waters at Ultratrace Levels: Traditional Approaches and Biomonitoring (Lake Baikal, Russia)

Alexander G. Gorshkov,Olga V. Kustova,Yurij S. Bukin

doi:10.3390/app12042145

Alexander G. Gorshkov, Olga V. Kustova + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/app12042145

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Abstract

This article presents the results of the assessment of PCB concentrations in surface waters at ultratrace level of concentrations. The assessment of PCB concentrations is based on data from monitoring PCBs in Baikal water within the conventional approach as well as from biomonitoring of PCBs using Baikal omul, Coregonus migratorius, Georgi, 1775 (C. migratorius), as a bioindicator. The time cycle of the monitoring covered the period from 2014 to 2021. The concentrations of PCBs in the water were estimated from the concentrations of seven indicator congeners: 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153, and 180, and from congeners of dioxin-like (dl) PCBs in the tissues of C. migratorius. The average value and the statistically significant range of the detected total concentrations (Ʃ7PCBs) in Baikal water were 0.30 and 0.26–0.34 ng/L, respectively. In the tissues of C. migratorius, the average value and the range of Ʃ7PCB concentrations were 5.6 and 4.9–6.3 ng/g (ww), respectively, and for dl-PCBs, 1.5 and 1.3–1.7 ng/g (ww), respectively. The total toxicity equivalent of the detected dl-PCBs was in the WHO-TEQ (2005) range from 0.03 to 0.06 pg/g (ww). The concentrations of Ʃ7PCBs in Baikal water and dl-PCBs in the tissues of C. migratorius corresponded to the concentration levels in the European alpine lakes and the tissues of S. trutta fish inhabiting these lakes.

Highlights

Accumulation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in surface waters is the most important problem of the international community within the framework of its SustainableDevelopment Goal
This study evaluates the results of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) monitoring, which were obtained during the observation period from 2014 to 2021 at Lake Baikal
Of the investigated PCB types, the total PCB concentration, and the age of omul individuals

Summary

Introduction

Accumulation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in surface waters is the most important problem of the international community within the framework of its SustainableDevelopment Goal. The total world production of PCBs is 1.5 million tons, of which approximately 10% remain in the environment [3,4,5,6] When their toxic effect on living organisms was determined in extremely low doses, together with the ability to accumulate in biological objects, the Stockholm Convention prohibited the production and use of PCBs. When their toxic effect on living organisms was determined in extremely low doses, together with the ability to accumulate in biological objects, the Stockholm Convention prohibited the production and use of PCBs They were included in the list of POPs and the OSPAR Convention included them in the list of priority pollutants [7,8]. The use of fish to assess the pollution of different water bodies by PCB pollutants based on the level of their accumulation in fish was a rather difficult task due to the discrepancy between the characteristics of fish (age and the number of lipids) as well as to the methods used for the detection of PCBs (number of congeners)

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