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Quantitative analysis and contamination profiles of PCBs, OCPs, and PAHs in black-tailed gull eggs in the Republic of Korea

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Abstract

The simultaneous determination of 8 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 23 organic chlorine pesticides (OCPs), and 35 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in black-tailed gull eggs was described using ultrasound-assisted extraction and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS). The ranges of the lower limits of detection for PCBs, OCPs, and PAHs were 0.006–0.029, 0.01–0.10, and 0.01–0.20 μg kg−1, respectively. The intraday precision was in the range of 0.650–12.9% and the intraday accuracy was in the range of 86.6–113%. When the proposed method was used to analyze the target compounds in gull eggs collected from six sites in the Republic of Korea, the analytical results demonstrated concentration ranges of 113.32–394.07 µg kg−1 for total PCBs, 422.92–1082.09 µg kg−1 for total OCPs, and 134.50–231.27 µg kg−1 for total PAHs in the samples. The PCA results for PAHs and OCPs were well differentiated by sampling site, whereas those for PCBs differed little by sampling site. There were more pyrogenic PAHs in the West Sea and the South Sea with many industrial areas than in the East Sea with few industrial areas. Differences in the OCP patterns of samples from the West Sea close to China were considered to be related to the use of DDT in China until recently. PCBs were accumulated in the samples regardless of region, so there was no significant difference in the PCB patterns between the samples obtained from the three Seas.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Environment Research (NIER) funded by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of the Republic of Korea (Grant number: NIER-2020–01-01–048).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Environment Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, 42, Hwangyeong-ro, Seo-gu, Incheon, 22689, Republic of Korea

    David Chung, Jang-Ho Lee & Soo-Yong Lee

  2. International Advanced Analytical Institute, Dokang-gu, Goyang, Gonggi-Do, Republic of Korea

    Yun-Suk Oh

  3. Department of Environmental Education, Kongju National University, Kongju, 314-701, Republic of Korea

    Ho-Sang Shin

Authors
  1. David Chung
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  2. Jang-Ho Lee
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  3. Soo-Yong Lee
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Contributions

David Chung: writing—original draft. Jang-Ho Lee: software. Soo-Yong Lee: visualization. Yun-Suk Oh: validation, data curation, methodology. Ho-Sang Shin: supervision, conceptualization, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Ho-Sang Shin.

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Chung, D., Lee, JH., Lee, SY. et al. Quantitative analysis and contamination profiles of PCBs, OCPs, and PAHs in black-tailed gull eggs in the Republic of Korea. Environ Monit Assess 194, 268 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-09905-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-09905-w

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