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Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in air and soil from a high-altitude pasture in the Italian Alps: evidence of CB-209 contamination

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Abstract

This study analyses the seasonal trend of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) concentrations in air and soil from a high-altitude mountain pasture in the Italian Alps. PCB concentrations in soil were generally comparable to background levels and were lower than those previously measured in the same area. Only CB-209 unexpectedly showed high concentrations with respect to the other congeners. GC-MS-MS identification was very clear, rising a new problem of increasing PCB contamination concerning only CB-209, which is not present in commercial mixtures used in the past in Italy and Europe. Considering all of the congeners, seasonal PCB trends were observed both in air and in soil that were related to the temperature and precipitation measured specifically in the study area. Highly significant relationships were found between the temperature-normalised concentrations in soil and the precipitation amounts. A north/south enrichment factor was present only in soil with rapid early summer re-volatilisation kinetics from soil to air and autumn re-deposition events from air to soil. Fugacity ratio calculations confirmed these trends. Surface soils respond rapidly to meteorological variables, while subsurface soils respond much more slowly. Seasonal trends were different for the northern and southern sides of the mountain. A detailed picture of the interactions among temperature, precipitation, mountain aspects and soil features was obtained.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to warmly thank Mr. Donnino Della Bella and ‘Consorzio Alpe Andossi’ for their hospitality and contributions in setting up the sampling sites and for providing useful information.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Paolo Tremolada, Niccolò Guazzoni, Marco Parolini, Serena Lazzaro & Andrea Binelli

  2. Department of Environmental and Land Sciences (DISAT), University of Milan Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, 20126, Milan, Italy

    Roberto Comolli

Authors
  1. Paolo Tremolada
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  2. Niccolò Guazzoni
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  3. Roberto Comolli
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  4. Marco Parolini
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  5. Serena Lazzaro
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  6. Andrea Binelli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paolo Tremolada.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Hongwen Sun

Capsule

Quite high concentrations of CB-209 were found in mountain soils; this finding and other evidences from literature highlight the possible ‘new’ threat coming from this contaminant.

Electronic supplementary material

All concentration data for selected congeners in air and soil can be found in supplementary information, together with several graphical elaboration of the results. The complete methodology is also described.

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Fig. S1

The study area of the pasture of Andossi plateau with the indication of the two sampling sites (North and South) and the one where the third meteorological station was placed (plain site in between the North and South ones). (PPT 370 kb)

Fig. S2

Mean congener abundance in air (2a and 2b) and soil (2c and 2d) samples from the Andossi plateau. Bars refer to the interval of ±standard deviation from the mean values. (PPT 185 kb)

Fig. S3

Marginal means of the ΣPCBs concentrations in air in function to aspect and date for the lighter congeners (3a and 3c, respectively) and for the heavier congeners (3b and 3d, respectively) in the Andossi plateau. Bars refer to the interval of ±standard error from the mean values and to 95 % confidence interval of the marginal means for the lighter and the heavier congeners, respectively. (PPT 148 kb)

Fig. S4

Relationships between mean air temperature during the sampling period and PCB concentrations in air for the lighter and the heavier congeners (4a and 4b, respectively). (PPT 125 kb)

Fig. S5

Marginal means of the ΣPCBs concentrations in the two soil layers (O and A1) in the Andossi plateau. Bars refer to 95 % confidence interval of the marginal means. (PPT 105 kb)

Fig. S6

Daily mean temperatures of the air at 180 cm above ground in the plain site (6a) and at 15 cm above ground (during the snow-free season) in the North and South sites (6b) of the Andossi plateau during 2011. From the beginning of the year until the 15 April 2011 and from 14 November 2011 until the end of the year, the temperature sensor in the three sites was moved to 3 m because of the snow mantle. Air temperatures at 180 cm were missed from 04 February 2011 until 16 April 2011 and from 04 December 2011 until the end of the year. During these periods, air temperatures were obtained by regression equations between the daily mean temperatures of our meteorological station and those of the nearest meteorological station of Stuetta. (PPT 551 kb)

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Tremolada, P., Guazzoni, N., Comolli, R. et al. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in air and soil from a high-altitude pasture in the Italian Alps: evidence of CB-209 contamination. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 19571–19583 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5115-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5115-1

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