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Occurrence of perchloroethylene in surface water and fish in a river ecosystem affected by groundwater contamination

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Abstract

Long-term monitoring of the content of perchloroethylene (PCE) in a river ecosystem affected by groundwater contamination was performed at a site in the Czech Republic. The quality of surface water was monitored quarterly between 1994 and 2013, and fish were collected from the affected ecosystem to analyse the content of PCE in their tissue in 1998, 2011 and 2012. Concentrations of PCE (9–140 μg/kg) in the tissue of fish collected from the contaminated part of the river were elevated compared to the part of the river unaffected by the contamination (ND to 5 μg/kg PCE). The quality of surface water has improved as a result of groundwater remediation during the evaluated period. Before the remedial action, PCE concentrations ranged from 30 to 95 μg/L (1994–1997). Following commencement of remedial activities in September 1997, a decrease in the content of PCE in the surface water to 7.3 μg/L (1998) and further to 1 μg/L (2011) and 1.1 μg/L (2012) led to a progressive decrease in the average concentration of PCE in the fish muscle tissue from 79 μg/kg (1998) to 24 (2011) and 30 μg/kg (2012), respectively. It was determined that the bioconcentration of PCE does not have a linear dependence because the decrease in contamination in the fish muscle tissue is not directly proportional to the decrease in contamination in the river water. The observed average bioconcentration factors were 24 and 28 for the lower concentrations of PCE and 11 for the higher concentrations of PCE in the river. In terms of age, length and weight of the collected fish, weight had the greatest significance for bioconcentration, followed by the length, with age being evaluated as a less significant factor.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank our colleagues at AECOM, in particular Petr Dostál for the fieldwork and Jiří Suchý for processing of graphical attachments. We would also like to thank Pavel Bernáth for organizing the collection of fish.

The research presented in this article was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in the framework of the targeted support of the “National Programme for Sustainability I” LO 1201 and the OPR&DI project “Centre for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation”, CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0005. Support was further provided by the WASOT project “Partnership network in the areas of modern and environmentally friendly water and soil remediation with a focus on the interconnection of the academic and private sectors” Reg. No.: CZ.1.07/2.4.00/31.018.9. Furthermore vas this research funding from means of specific university research in the project nr. TA 01010522.

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  1. Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6, Suchdol, 165 21, Czech Republic

    Zdena Wittlingerová, Anna Petruželková & Magdalena Zimová

  2. Technical University of Liberec, Institute of Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation, Studentská 1402/2, Liberec 1, 461 17, Czech Republic

    Jiřina Macháčková

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  1. Zdena Wittlingerová
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  2. Jiřina Macháčková
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Correspondence to Jiřina Macháčková.

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Wittlingerová, Z., Macháčková, J., Petruželková, A. et al. Occurrence of perchloroethylene in surface water and fish in a river ecosystem affected by groundwater contamination. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 5676–5692 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5806-7

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