Abstract
We studied the occurrence and levels of hexachlorobenzene, alpha-, beta-, and gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane, 4, 4'-DDT, 4, 4'-DDE, 4, 4'-DDD, and 17 PCBs (six indicator and eleven other toxicologically significant congeners) in PM10 and/or PM2.5 particle fractions collected between 2000 and 2003 and in 2010 at a site in the northern residential part of Zagreb, Croatia. Twenty-four-hour particle samples were collected on glass or quartz microfibre filters from approximately 100 m3 of ambient air per filter. Filters with particles collected over seven consecutive days were combined for ultrasonic extraction with 1:1 acetone:n-hexane mixture followed by capillary gas chromatography with electron capture detection. In the monitored periods, the mass concentrations of organochlorine compounds in atmospheric particles were characteristic of global environmental pollution and showed a decreasing trend. Local input was observed only for gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane. There were no pronounced seasonal variations in the mass fraction levels of any pesticide or PCB in airborne particles. A decreasing trend in the mass concentrations of some compounds with higher air temperatures was mostly related to the lower particle concentrations in warmer seasons and, consequently, to less particle-bound organochlorine compounds in the atmosphere.
Highlights
Organochlorine (OC) pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are widespread semivolatile, lipophilic, and highly persistent environmental pollutants with possible harmful effects on the ecosystem and human health
The aim of our study was to investigate for the first time temporal trends in the occurrence and mass concentrations of particle-bound OC pesticides and PCBs in PM10 and PM2.5 atmospheric particles collected in the northern residential part of the city of Zagreb
Due to the low levels of OC pesticides and PCBs in atmospheric particles, the sensitivity of their determination greatly depends on the mass of particle samples
Summary
Organochlorine (OC) pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are widespread semivolatile, lipophilic, and highly persistent environmental pollutants with possible harmful effects on the ecosystem and human health. Despite restrictions imposed several decades ago, PCBs and OC pesticides are still present in different environmental compartments of biota, air, water, soil, and land and aquatic sediments. Due to their transport over long distances from the primary contaminated areas by circulation of air masses and waters, these pollutants can be found even in regions where they have never been used, e.g., in the Arctic[1] and the Southern Ocean and Antarctic Peninsula, the northernmost element of mainland Antarctica.[2] Current environmental levels of PCBs and OC pesticides are primarily the result of their use in the past, but emission sources into environment still exist.[3,4,5,6]
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