Spatio-temporal assessment of the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) sediment contamination in four major French river corridors (1945–2018)
<p>Environmental pollution by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is a key cause for concern about river quality because of their low degradation rates leading to their accumulation in sediments and living organisms. An original interdisciplinary work was conducted along the four main French rive...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Earth System Science Data |
| Online Access: | https://www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/12/1153/2020/essd-12-1153-2020.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>Environmental pollution by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is a key cause for concern
about river quality because of their low degradation rates leading to their
accumulation in sediments and living organisms. An original
interdisciplinary work was conducted along the four main French rivers
(Seine, Rhône, Loire and Garonne rivers), which flow into major European
seas. We completed a dataset based on sediment analyses provided by
monitoring agencies, port authorities and research teams on different solid
matrices (sediment cores, bed and flood deposits, suspended particulate
matter and dredged sediments). This dataset focused on the seven indicator
PCBs and their sum (<span class="inline-formula">Σ</span>PCBi) from 1945 to 2018 (<span class="inline-formula"><i>n</i>Σ</span>PCBi
<span class="inline-formula">=1416</span>). Special effort was put into the quality control to provide robust
spatio-temporal information. Taking into account hydrological and human
drivers, we outlined two main pollution trends: (1) from 1945 to 1975, a
quick increase in <span class="inline-formula">Σ</span>PCBi (up to 4 mg kg<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span> dry weight, dw) and a
sharp decrease in the 1980s on the Seine and Loire rivers and (2) increasing
but moderate <span class="inline-formula">Σ</span>PCBi levels (50 to 150 <span class="inline-formula">µg kg<sup>−1</sup> dw</span>)
followed by a decline after the 1990s on the Rhône and Garonne rivers.
In addition to these patterns, PCB emissions from urban and industrial areas
or accidental events were significant in each river. Finally, when
calculating specific flux, the Rhône exhibited the uppermost
<span class="inline-formula">Σ</span>PCBi load (up to 12 <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow class="unit"><mi mathvariant="normal">µ</mi><mi mathvariant="normal">g</mi><mspace width="0.125em" linebreak="nobreak"/><msup><mi mathvariant="normal">m</mi><mrow><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></mrow></msup><mspace width="0.125em" linebreak="nobreak"/><msup><mi mathvariant="normal">yr</mi><mrow><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">1</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="56pt" height="15pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="ef04fb5fd0777a605d955fbe5af4a6c2"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="essd-12-1153-2020-ie00001.svg" width="56pt" height="15pt" src="essd-12-1153-2020-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> in 1977–1987),
at least 25 % higher than those of the Seine and Loire rivers, while the
Garonne showed a very low flux. In western Europe, we confirmed that
the Rhône, Seine and Loire rivers contribute significantly to the PCB
contamination of the seas, while French specific <span class="inline-formula">Σ</span>PCBi fluxes are
2 orders of magnitude lower than those found in American or Asian rivers.
The dataset is available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.904277">https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.904277</a> (Dendievel et al., 2019).</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1866-3508 1866-3516 |