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Occurrence of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Llobregat River Basin: An Overview

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The Llobregat

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 21))

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview about the occurrence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the Llobregat River basin (NE Spain). This basin historically has received considerable amounts of contaminants from both urban and industrial origin as well as from agricultural holdings. Among these contaminants, POPs are ubiquitous compounds of great concern due to their high persistence in the environment, high bioaccumulative nature and adverse effects (toxicity, carcinogenic and mutagenic effects, etc.) on wildlife and humans. These persistent contaminants include compounds such as chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This overview has been complemented with a recent monitoring study carried out in the framework of the SCARCE project in which the occurrence of 52 POPs in sediment samples from Llobregat River basin has been evaluated. Concentrations were compared with two approaches derived from a consensus sediment quality guideline (SQG) in order to assess the chemical quality of the sediments along the basin. Finally, the toxic potency associated with PAHs exposure is also evaluated.

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Abbreviations

ACA:

Catalan Water Agency (Agència Catalana de l'Aigua)

BFRs:

Brominated flame retardants

DDD:

Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane

DDE:

Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene

DDT:

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane

DLC:

Dioxin-like compounds

dw:

Dry weight

EPA:

Environmental Protection Agency

EQC:

Equilibrium criterion

EROD:

Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase

EUSES:

European Uniform System for the Evaluation of Substances

HCB:

Hexachlorobenzene

HCHs:

Hexachlorocyclohexanes

IARC:

International Agency for Research on Cancer

OCPs:

Organochlorinated pesticides

PAH:

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

PCBs:

Polychlorinated biphenyls

PCDDs:

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins

PCDFs:

Polychlorinated dibenzofurans

PCNs:

Polychlorinated naphthalenes

PEC:

Probable effect concentration

POPs:

Persistent organic pollutants

SQGs:

Sediment quality guidelines

TCDD:

Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin

TEC:

Threshold effect concentration

TEF:

Toxicity equivalent factors

TEQ:

Toxicity equivalent quantity

TOC:

Total organic carbon

US EPA:

United States Environmental Protection Agency

WWTP:

Wastewater treatment plants

∑PAHs:

Sum of total PAHs

∑PCBs:

Sum of total PCBs

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), C/Jordi Girona, 18-26, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    Daniel Guillén, Antoni Ginebreda, Ethel Eljarrat & Damià Barceló

  2. Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), c/Emili Grahit 101, 17003, Girona, Spain

    Mira Petrovic & Damià Barceló

  3. Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Passeig Lluis Companys 23, 80010, Barcelona, Spain

    Mira Petrovic

  4. King Saud University (KSU), 2455, 11451, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Damià Barceló

Authors
  1. Daniel Guillén
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  2. Antoni Ginebreda
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  3. Ethel Eljarrat
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  4. Mira Petrovic
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  5. Damià Barceló
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Guillén .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. of the University of Girona, Catalan Institute for Water Research (IC, Scientific and Technological Park, Emili Grahit 101, Girona, 17003, Spain

    Sergi Sabater

  2. , Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, c/ Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona, 08034, Spain

    Antoni Ginebreda

  3. , Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, c/Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona, 08034, Spain

    Damià Barceló

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Guillén, D., Ginebreda, A., Eljarrat, E., Petrovic, M., Barceló, D. (2012). Occurrence of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Llobregat River Basin: An Overview. In: Sabater, S., Ginebreda, A., Barceló, D. (eds) The Llobregat. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 21. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2012_144

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