Concentrations, Sources and Human Health Risk Assessment of 12 Dioxin-Like Polychlorinated Biphenyls (DL-PCBs) in the Urban Soils of Baraki, Algiers (Algeria) with Determination by Gas Chromatography - Tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS)

Abstract

The concentrations of twelve dioxin-like polychlorobiphenyls (DL-PCB) were determined in fifty-seven soils by gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The investigated soils were collected in a 72 km2 area close to Algiers, the Algerian capital. The highest cumulated DL-PCB concentration was close to 82 µg kg−1. The use of principal component analysis (PCA) ensured the tentative identification of the contamination sources, which were found to be associated with the release into the environment of PCB commercial mixtures from electrical transformers or from open burning of household wastes. The associated toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) relative to the 12 DL-PCBs did not exceeded 2.8 ng.kg−1. The use of the United States Environmental Protection Agency guidelines ensured to define that neither the cancer potential human health risk nor the non-carcinogenic risk were significantly increased by the DL-PCB concentrations in the investigated soils.