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Concentration and distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in rice paddy soils

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Abstract

To monitor and evaluate the risk of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination in Pohang, Korea, the concentration and distribution of 29 PCBs in paddy soils were determined using high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry. The overall concentrations of Σ29 PCBs in the paddy soils of the areas close to the heavily industrial city of Pohang (268–1833 pg g−1 dw) were higher than those in the paddies from Anseong (106.6–222.6 pg g−1 dw) in Korea. In Pohang, the major contributors to the Σ29 PCBs were the non-dioxin-like PCBs, including the PCBs 28, 52, 70, 101, 118, 138, 153, and 180, which correspond to 48–62% of the total PCBs. The toxic equivalency (TEQ) values obtained from the 12 dioxin-like PCBs from Pohang (0.03–1.03 pg TEQ g−1 dw) showed that PCB 126 contributed the highest toxicity, possibly posing a risk to the living organisms. The results of both principal component and cluster analysis based on the PCB homologue patterns demonstrated that each sampling site showed a similar PCBs contamination pattern, and Aroclor 1254, which is likely used by small and big steel factories, was identified as a major source of PCB contamination in Pohang.

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Acknowledgments

This research was carried out under 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, Tae-Hoon Nam, Kyeongnam Kim & 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, Ji-Young Son, Min-Kyu Park & Sung-Deuk Choi

    3. UNIST Environmental Analysis Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea

      Chul-Su Kim & Sung-Deuk Choi

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

      Byung-Jun Park

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    1. Leesun Kim
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    Correspondence to Sung-Deuk Choi or Sung-Eun Lee.

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    L. Kim and J.-W. Jeon have contributed equally to this paper.

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    Kim, L., Jeon, JW., Son, JY. et al. Concentration and distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in rice paddy soils. Appl Biol Chem 60, 191–196 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13765-017-0259-y

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