Abstract
Our goal was to determine dioxin levels in 800 soil samples collected from Taiwan. An in vitro DR-CALUX® assay was carried out with the help of an automated Soxhlet system and fast cleanup column. The mean dioxin level of 800 soil samples was 36.0 pg-bioanalytical equivalents (BEQs)/g dry weight (d.w.). Soil dioxin-BEQs were higher in northern Taiwan (61.8 pg-BEQ/g d.w.) than in central, southern, and eastern Taiwan (22.2, 24.9, and 7.80 pg-BEQ/g d.w., respectively). Analysis of multiple linear regression models identified four major predictors of dioxin-BEQs including soil sampling location (β = 0.097, p < 0.001), land use (β = 0.065, p < 0.001), soil brightness (β = 0.170, p < 0.001), and soil moisture (β = 0.051, p = 0.020), with adjusted R2 = 0.947 (p < 0.001) (n = 662). An univariate logistic regression analysis with the cut-off point of 33.4 pg-BEQ/g d.w. showed significant odds ratios (ORs) for soil sampling location (OR = 2.43, p < 0.001), land use (OR = 1.47, p < 0.001), and soil brightness (OR = 2.83, p = 0.009). In conclusion, four variables, including soil sampling location, land use, soil brightness, and soil moisture, may be related to soil-dioxin contamination. Soil samples collected in northern Taiwan, and especially in Bade City, soils near industrial areas, and soils with darker color may contain higher dioxin-BEQ levels.
Highlights
Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) are halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons and recognized as environmental endocrine disruptors
A high linear correlation was found between dioxin WHO2005-TEQs or I-TEQ and dioxin-bio-analytical equivalents (BEQs) in soil samples randomly selected from the 800 samples (WHO2005: adjusted R2 = 0.857, p < 0.001; I-TEQ: adjusted R2 = 0.893, p < 0.001)
The findings in the present study indicate that soil brightness may affect dioxins contamination in soil, but leave unanswered the question of why this characteristic may be correlated with the distribution of dioxins in soil
Summary
Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) are halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons and recognized as environmental endocrine disruptors. PCDD/Fs are persistent, ubiquitous contaminants that are released into the environment as unwanted byproducts of incomplete combustion or impurities in various chemicals [3,4,5] Because of their chemical stability, lipid solubility, and resistance to chemical and physical degradation, PCDD/Fs can move away from their source regions to more remote locations through atmospheric long-range transport, accumulating in the atmosphere over the land and ocean [6,7], in soils [8,9,10], sediments [11,12], terrestrial and aquatic animals [13,14], and humans [15,16,17]. Many environmental scientists have examined soils near stationary points with high dioxin emissions [10,13,20,21]
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