Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sediments of the southern Baltic Sea — trends and fate

Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been determined in recent [0–1(2), 1(2)–5 and 5–10 cm deep layers] sediments from different sites of the southern Baltic Sea, including the Szczecin Lagoon, collected from May 1996 to October 1999, i.e. before and after the great flood in Poland of July/August 1997. The PCB distribution has been correlated with location and hydrological conditions as well as with organic carbon, algal pigments and their derivatives in the sediments. The sum of PCB (seven congeners) was equal to ∼1–149 ng/g dry wt., on average this was rather low (up to 40 ng/g). There was a decreasing trend in PCBs concentrations in the bottom sediments of the southern Baltic in 1996 but considerable amounts were still accumulated there. The flood of 1997 caused a distinct increase of PCB concentration level in the sediments, which again showed a decreasing trend in the next few years. This illustrates that at present the main source of PCBs for the southern Baltic are not a direct consequence of human activity, but from floods and heavy rains washing these compounds from land to the sea. Algae and algal detritus play an important role in the transport and distribution of PCBs in the southern Baltic. High correlation of PCBs with chlorophyll a derivatives — products of zooplankton grazing — indicates that PCBs are ingested by zooplankton with phytoplankton and then exuded with fecal pellets. PCBs bound to algal detritus or to fecal pellets in the water column are transferred to sediments, there they may be trapped either in a bonded and unchanged form or resuspended, remobilized and/or dechlorinated, depending on their properties and environmental conditions.