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Concentrations and Toxic Equivalency of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Polish Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents

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Abstract

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are widely recognized as important sources of toxic contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). An example is given in the present paper, where concentrations of 12 dioxin-like PCBs (dl-PCBs) congeners were investigated in effluents from 14 WWTPs of different sizes, using gas chromatography tandem–mass spectrometry. The results obtained demonstrate that the smallest WWTPs are characterized by the highest total dl-PCB concentration of 102.69 pg/L, roughly twice those of medium-size and large WWTPs, i.e. 41.14 and 48.29 pg/L, respectively. In all cases, the concentrations obtained were generated mostly by increased contributions of PCB-77, PCB-105 and PCB-118 which constituted 48 %–59 % of the mean dl-PCB concentration. The results also reveal a predominance of mono-ortho over non-ortho PCBs. All three types of WWTP effluent were found to have similar toxic equivalency (TEQ) values, ranging from 0.31 for large to 0.37 pg TEQ/L for medium WWTPs.

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Abbreviations

WWTPs:

Wastewater treatment plants

PCBs:

Polychlorinated biphenyls

dl-PCBs:

Dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls

TEQ:

Toxic equivalency

TEF:

Toxic equivalency factor

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Acknowledgments

The research was supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Project: N N305 365738 “Analysis of point sources pollution of nutrients, dioxins and dioxin-like compounds in the Pilica River catchment and draw up of reclamation methods”. The authors want also to thank Maciej Skłodowski MSc for his help during sample collection, and Prof Adam Grochowalski from the Krakow University of Technology for the sample analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Tylna 3, 90-364, Lodz, Poland

    Magdalena Urbaniak & Edyta Kiedrzyńska

  2. Department of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Banacha 12/16, 90-237, Lodz, Poland

    Magdalena Urbaniak & Edyta Kiedrzyńska

Authors
  1. Magdalena Urbaniak
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  2. Edyta Kiedrzyńska
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Correspondence to Magdalena Urbaniak.

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Urbaniak, M., Kiedrzyńska, E. Concentrations and Toxic Equivalency of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Polish Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 95, 530–535 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1631-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1631-4

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