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Distribution and ecological risk of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in surface sediments from the Bizerte lagoon, Tunisia

  • PCB mixtures in a complex world
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Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were determined in 18 surface sediment samples collected from Bizerte lagoon, Tunisia. The total concentrations of ten PCBs (∑PCBs) and of four OCPs (∑OCPs) in the sediments from this area ranged from 0.8 to 14.6 ng g−1 dw (average value, 3.9 ng g−1 dw) and from 1.1 to 14.0 ng g−1 dw (average value, 3.3 ng g−1 dw), respectively. Among the OCPs, the range of concentrations of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites (DDTs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were 0.3–11.5 ng g−1 dw (1.9 ng g−1 dw) and 0.6–2.5 ng g−1 dw (1.4 ng g−1 dw), respectively. Compositional analyses of the POPs indicated that PCB 153, 138 and 180 were the predominant congeners accounting for 60 % of the total PCBs. In addition, p,p′-DDT was found to be the dominant DDTs, demonstrating recent inputs in the environment. Compared with some other regions of the world, the Bizerte lagoon exhibited low levels of PCBs and moderate levels of HCB and DDTs. The high ratios ΣPCBs/ΣDDTs indicated predominant industrial versus agricultural activities in this area. According to the established guidelines for sediment quality, the risk of adverse biological effects from such levels of OCPs and PCBs, as recorded at most of the study sites, was insignificant. However, the higher concentrations in stations S1 and S3 could cause biological damage.

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Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Tunisia for its financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Environmental Analytical Chemistry (05/UR/12-03), University of Carthage, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, 7021 Zarzouna, Bizerte, Tunisia

    Badreddine Barhoumi, Yassine El megdiche, Bechir Hammami, Walid Ben Ameur, Sihem Ben Hassine & Mohamed Ridha Driss

  2. Laboratory of Physico- and Toxico-Chemistry of the Environment (LPTC), University Bordeaux 1, CNRS, EPOC (UMR 5805), 351 cours de la Libération, 33405, Talence Cedex, France

    Badreddine Barhoumi, Karyn LeMenach, Marie-Hélène Dévier, Jérôme Cachot & Hélène Budzinski

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  1. Badreddine Barhoumi
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  2. Karyn LeMenach
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  3. Marie-Hélène Dévier
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  4. Yassine El megdiche
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Correspondence to Mohamed Ridha Driss.

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Barhoumi, B., LeMenach, K., Dévier, MH. et al. Distribution and ecological risk of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in surface sediments from the Bizerte lagoon, Tunisia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 6290–6302 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1709-7

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