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Monitoring and risk assessment of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in agricultural soil collected in the vicinity of an industrialized area

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Abstract

Samples of agricultural soils possibly contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were collected from Anseong, Korea. The agricultural areas chosen have possibly been contaminated by nearby factories, either directly or via atmospheric deposition, and require monitoring. The concentrations of 29 out of 209 PCB congeners were determined at five sites using high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry. Total concentrations of the 29 PCB congeners in soil samples obtained from each study site were 106.65, 149.15, 222.67, 166.15, and 118.28 pg g−1 dry weight, respectively, with pentaCBs and hexaCBs giving the highest concentrations of the congeners studied. The total toxic equivalent (TEQ) for 12 PCBs from each site was 0.05, 0.11, 0.08, 0.05, and 0.04 ng kg−1 dry weight, respectively. These values were mainly due to high TEQ values for PCB 126 (3,3′,4,4′,5-pentachlorobiphenyl) from each site (at 0.05, 0.10, 0.07, 0.04, and 0.03 ng kg−1 dry weight, respectively). The TEQ values are much lower than the action level of 20 ng WHO–TEQ kg−1 recommended by the World Health Organization, but PCB concentrations in this area should be monitored nonetheless, since these manmade compounds bioaccumulate, thus threatening the ecosystem and human health.

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Acknowledgments

This study was performed under the support of the Cooperative Research Program for Agricultural Science and Technology Development (Project No. PJ010922032015), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 41566, Republic of Korea

      Leesun Kim, Hwang-Ju Jeon & Sung-Eun Lee

    2. School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea

      Jin-Woo Jeon, Yun-Se Lee & Sung-Deuk Choi

    3. Chemical Safety Division, National Academy of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju, 54875, Republic of Korea

      Byung-Jun Park

    4. Department of Bioenvironmental Chemistry and Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 561-756, Republic of Korea

      Hoi-Seon Lee

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    1. Leesun Kim
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    Correspondence to Sung-Eun Lee.

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    Leesun Kim and Jin-Woo Jeon have contributed equally to this paper as first author.

    Sung-Deuk Choi and Sung-Eun Lee have contributed equally to this paper as corresponding author.

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    Kim, L., Jeon, JW., Lee, YS. et al. Monitoring and risk assessment of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in agricultural soil collected in the vicinity of an industrialized area. Appl Biol Chem 59, 655–659 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13765-016-0207-2

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