This study presents four years ambient monitoring data of seventeen 2,3,7,8-chlorine substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), twelve dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) and sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) designed by the US EPA at a background site in central Europe during 2011-2014. The concentrations expressed as toxic equivalents (TEQs) using the WHO2005-scheme for PCDD/Fs (0.2 fg m-3-61.1 fg m-3) were higher than for dl-PCBs (0.01 fg m-3-2.9 fg m-3), while the opposite was found in terms of mass concentrations. ΣPAHs ranged from 0.20 ng m-3 to 134 ng m-3. The mass concentration profile of PCDD/Fs, dl-PCBs and PAHs was similar throughout the four years. PCDD/Fs and PAHs concentrations were dominated by primary sources peaking in winter, while those of dl-PCBs were controlled by secondary sources characterized by a spring-summer peak. During 2011-2014, no significant decrease in the atmospheric levels of ΣPCDD/Fs was observed. On the other hand, the concentrations of Σdl-PCBs and ΣPAHs were decreasing, with halving times of 5.7 and 2.7 years, respectively. We estimated that 422 pg m-2 year-1-567 pg m-2 year-1 TEQ PCDD/Fs and 3.48 pg m-2 year-1-15.8 pg m-2 year-1 TEQ dl-PCBs were transferred from the air to the ground surfaces via dry particulate deposition during 2011-2014.
- MeSH
- Air Pollutants analysis MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring MeSH
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls analysis MeSH
- Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins analysis MeSH
- Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated analysis MeSH
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons analysis MeSH
- Seasons MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
Brominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/Fs) are increasingly reported at significant levels in various matrices, including consumer goods that are manufactured from plastics containing certain brominated flame retardants. PBDD/Fs are known ligands for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) but are not yet considered in the hazard assessment of dioxin mixtures. The aim of the present study was to determine if PBDD/Fs levels present in plastic constituents of toys could pose a threat to children's health. PBDD/Fs, unlike their chlorinated counterparts (PCDD/Fs), have not been officially assigned toxic equivalence factors (TEFs) by the WHO therefore, we determined their relative potency towards AhR activation in both human and rodent cell-based DR CALUX® bioassays. This allowed us to compare GC-HRMS PBDD/F congener levels, converted to total Toxic Equivalents (TEQ) by using the PCDD/F TEFs, to CALUX Bioanalytical Equivalents (BEQ) levels present in contaminated plastic constituents from children's toys. Finally, an estimate was made of the daily ingestion of TEQs from PBDD/Fs-contaminated plastic toys by child mouthing habits. It is observed that the daily ingestion of PBDD/Fs from contaminated plastic toys may significantly contribute to the total dioxin daily intake of young children.
- MeSH
- Biological Assay MeSH
- Cell Line MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Play and Playthings * MeSH
- Rats MeSH
- Environmental Pollutants analysis toxicity MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Luciferases genetics MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Plastics chemistry standards MeSH
- Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry MeSH
- Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins analysis toxicity MeSH
- Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated analysis toxicity MeSH
- Child, Preschool MeSH
- Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon genetics MeSH
- Genes, Reporter MeSH
- Flame Retardants analysis toxicity MeSH
- Transfection MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Rats MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Child, Preschool MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including PCDD/Fs, PCBs and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are among the most important and hazardous pollutants of soil. Food producing animals such as chicken, beef, sheep and goats can take up soil while grazing or living outdoors (free-range) and this can result in contamination. In recent decades, large quantities of brominated flame retardants such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and per- and polyfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS) have been produced and released into the environment and this has resulted in widespread contamination of soils and other environmental matrices. These POPs also bioaccumulate and can contaminate food of animal origin resulting in indirect exposure of humans. Recent assessments of chicken and beef have shown that surprisingly low concentrations of PCBs and PCDD/Fs in soil can result in exceedances of regulatory limits in food. Soil contamination limits have been established in a number of countries for PCDD/Fs but it has been shown that the contamination levels which result in regulatory limits in food (the maximum levels in the European Union) being exceeded, are below all the existing soil regulatory limits. 'Safe' soil levels are exceeded in many areas around emission sources of PCDD/Fs and PCBs. On the other hand, PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB levels in soil in rural areas, without a contamination source, are normally safe for food producing animals housed outdoors resulting in healthy food (e.g. meat, eggs, milk). For the majority of POPs (e.g. PBDEs, PFOS, PFOA, SCCP) no regulatory limits in soils exist. There is, therefore, an urgent need to develop appropriate and protective soil standards minimising human exposure from food producing animals housed outdoors. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to eliminate POPs pollution sources for soils and to control, secure and remediate contaminated sites and reservoirs, in order to reduce exposure and guarantee food safety.
- MeSH
- Food Safety * MeSH
- Soil Pollutants analysis MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Meat analysis MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring legislation & jurisprudence methods MeSH
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls analysis MeSH
- Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins analysis MeSH
- Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated analysis MeSH
- Soil chemistry standards MeSH
- Eggs analysis MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
The atmosphere is the major contributor of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in the Baltic Sea environment. In this study, we investigated the potential of using metals along with PCDD/Fs as markers of important emission sources of PCDD/Fs in air. The air concentrations of PCDD/F congeners (n = 17), other persistent organic pollutants (n = 8) and metals (n = 16) were determined in summer and winter air using high volume samplers at a rural field station (Aspvreten, Sweden) located close to the Baltic Sea coast. During winter, PCDD/F levels were on average 20 times higher than in summer (5.1 ± 5.8 fg toxicity equivalents (TEQ) m-3 and 0.26 ± 0.18 fg TEQ m-3, respectively) mostly due to a higher fraction of PCDFs. The increased levels of PCDD/Fs were pronounced mainly in air masses that had travelled from southern (S) and eastern (E) compass sectors. A principal component analysis (PCA) of metal levels in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) needles sampled to reflect various air emission source types helped to identify potential marker metals for selected known atmospheric emission sources of PCDD/Fs and to rank among the candidate source types. Brown coal burning, domestic burning and heavy oil burning appeared to be the source types that contribute most of the PCDD/Fs in Baltic Sea air. The current study demonstrates a successful approach for source tracing of PCDD/Fs in air, where integrated indices from seasonal and spatial patterns of PCDD/Fs as well as metal source markers were used to trace and rank sources.
- MeSH
- Principal Component Analysis MeSH
- Atmosphere chemistry MeSH
- Pinus sylvestris chemistry MeSH
- Metals analysis MeSH
- Air Pollutants analysis MeSH
- Plant Leaves chemistry MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Oceans and Seas MeSH
- Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins analysis MeSH
- Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated analysis MeSH
- Seasons MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Oceans and Seas MeSH
- Sweden MeSH
Pine needles were sampled to determine levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and metals in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) needles at industrial, urban and background sites in Sweden (SW), Czech Republic (CZ) and Slovakia (SK). Spatial and temporal patterns of PCDD/Fs in pine needles were investigated and principal component analysis (PCA) used to determine spatial patterns, potential sources and transport of PCDD/Fs. Levels of PCDD/Fs in pine needles were generally greatest near to industrial sites (Ʃ2,3,7,8-PCDD/Fs (lower bound (LB)): 6 ng kg(-1) - 190 ng kg(-1)) compared to urban and background sites (Ʃ2,3,7,8-PCDD/Fs (LB): 0.90 ng kg(-1) - 20 ng kg(-1)). Using metal contamination in pine needles helped to detect spatial patterns and separate local thermal sources of PCDD/Fs.
- MeSH
- Pinus sylvestris * MeSH
- Metals analysis MeSH
- Environmental Pollutants analysis MeSH
- Plant Leaves chemistry MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring MeSH
- Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins analysis MeSH
- Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated analysis MeSH
- Industry MeSH
- Cities MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
- Slovakia MeSH
- Sweden MeSH
- Cities MeSH
The concentrations and congener profiles of polychlorinated benzenes, phenols, dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofurans, measured in raw flue gases of a real MSWI plant, are discussed in this paper. The data covers steady-state and transient operation conditions, including the memory effect period close to two shutdowns. The highest levels of concentrations of the pollutants were observed the first day after the shutdown with subsequent gradual decrease towards steady-state values. The conditions of the steady-state period prior to shutdown are decisive for the increase of start-up values, memory effect values and memory effect length. We found that the above-mentioned pollutants had a different length of the memory effect period. It can be concluded that under plant transient operation the formation of pollutants by the de novo synthesis is higher than under steady-state conditions.
- MeSH
- Benzofurans analysis MeSH
- Chlorobenzenes analysis MeSH
- Chlorophenols analysis MeSH
- Air Pollutants analysis MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring MeSH
- Gases chemistry MeSH
- Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins analogs & derivatives analysis MeSH
- Incineration * MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
Changes in pollutant loads in relatively dynamic river sediments, which contain very complex mixtures of compounds, can play a crucial role in the fate and effects of pollutants in fluvial ecosystems. The contamination of sediments by bioactive substances can be sensitively assessed by in vitro bioassays. This is the first study that characterizes detailed short- and long-term changes in concentrations of contaminants with several modes of action in river sediments. One-year long monthly study described seasonal and spatial variability of contamination of sediments in a representative industrialized area by dioxin-like and endocrine disruptive chemicals. There were significant seasonal changes in both antiandrogenic and androgenic as well as dioxin-like potential of river sediments, while there were no general seasonal trends in estrogenicity. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor-dependent potency (dioxin-like potency) expressed as biological TCDD-equivalents (BIOTEQ) was in the range of 0.5-17.7 ng/g, dry mass (dm). The greatest BIOTEQ levels in sediments were observed during winter, particularly at locations downstream of the industrial area. Estrogenicity expressed as estradiol equivalents (EEQ) was in the range of 0.02-3.8 ng/g, dm. Antiandrogenicity was detected in all samples, while androgenic potency in the range of 0.7-16.8 ng/g, dm dihydrotestosterone equivalents (DHT-EQ) was found in only 30 % of samples, most often during autumn, when antiandrogenicity was the least. PAHs were predominant contaminants among analyzed pollutants, responsible, on average, for 13-21 % of BIOTEQ. Longer-term changes in concentrations of BIOTEQ corresponded to seasonal fluctuations, whereas for EEQ, the inter-annual changes at some locations were greater than seasonal variability during 1 year. The inter- as well as intra-annual variability in concentrations of both BIOTEQ and EEQ at individual sites was greater in spring than in autumn which was related to hydrological conditions in the river. This study stresses the importance of river hydrology and its seasonal variations in the design of effective sampling campaigns, as well as in the interpretation of any monitoring results.
- MeSH
- Biological Assay MeSH
- Water Pollutants, Chemical analysis MeSH
- Water Pollution, Chemical statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Dioxins analysis MeSH
- Endocrine Disruptors analysis MeSH
- Geologic Sediments chemistry MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring * MeSH
- Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins analysis MeSH
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons analysis MeSH
- Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon MeSH
- Rivers chemistry MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
Within our research project, 34 river bottom sediments were collected in 2006-2007 at five areas across Slovakia with industrial sources of persistent organic pollutants (Košice, Krompachy, Nemecká, Šala, Nováky) and one background area (Starina). Sediments were analyzed for seven 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and 10 dibenzofurans (PCDFs), 12 dioxin-like and 6 indicator polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and 1,1,1,-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (p,p'-DDT) with 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (p,p'-DDE). Analytical procedure based on accelerated solvent extraction followed by a semi-automated clean-up and fractionation was used. Determination of target compounds was performed by HRGC-HRMS analysis. Total WHO toxic equivalent WHO1998-PCDD/F/dl-PCB-TEQ concentrations ranged from 0.26 to 559 pg TEQ g(-1) dry matter (dm), with a median 2.2 pg TEQ g(-1) dm. The sums of six indicator PCBs were in the range 0.56-1014 ng g(-1) dm, with a median 11.8 ng g(-1) dm. The concentrations of organochlorine pesticides HCB and p,p'-DDE/DDT varied from 0.15 to 34.8 ng g(-1) dm, with a median 0.91 ng g(-1) dm and 0.46-34.1 ng g(-1)dm, with a median 6.7 ng g(-1)dm, respectively. The most abundant congeners in all sediment samples among dioxins, furans and PCBs were OCDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF, PCB-118 and PCB-153.
- MeSH
- Benzofurans analysis MeSH
- Water Pollutants, Chemical analysis MeSH
- Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated analysis MeSH
- Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene analysis MeSH
- Geologic Sediments chemistry MeSH
- Hexachlorobenzene analysis MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring * MeSH
- Pesticides analysis MeSH
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls analysis MeSH
- Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins analogs & derivatives analysis MeSH
- Polymers analysis MeSH
- Rivers chemistry MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Geographicals
- Slovakia MeSH
Levels of polychlorinated dioxins/furans (PCDD/PCDF) in selected environmental samples (soils, sediments, fish, and farm animals) were analyzed from the area of Phong My commune (Thua Thien-Hue province, Vietnam). This area was affected by Agent Orange spraying during the Vietnam war (1968-1971). Whereas PCDD/PCDF content in soil and sediment samples is relatively low and ranges between 0.05 and 5.1 pg WHO-TEQ/g for soils and between 0.7 and 6.4 pg WHO-TEQ/g for sediments, the PCDD/PCDF content in poultry muscle and liver in most cases exceeded the maximum permissible limit of dioxin content per unit fat mass. In some cases of soil and sediments samples, 2,3,7,8-TCDD represented more than 90% of the total PCDD/PCDF, which indicates Agent Orange as the main source.
- MeSH
- Defoliants, Chemical analysis metabolism MeSH
- Dioxins analysis metabolism MeSH
- Livestock metabolism MeSH
- Furans analysis metabolism MeSH
- 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid analysis metabolism MeSH
- 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid analysis metabolism MeSH
- Environmental Pollutants analysis metabolism MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring * MeSH
- Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry MeSH
- Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins analysis metabolism MeSH
- Fishes metabolism MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Geographicals
- Vietnam MeSH
Passive and composite sampling in combination with in vitro bioassays and identification and quantification of individual chemicals were applied to characterize pollution by compounds with several specific modes of action in urban area in the basin of two rivers, with 400,000 inhabitants and a variety of industrial activities. Two types of passive samplers, semipermeable membrane devices (SPMD) for hydrophobic contaminants and polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) for polar compounds such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals, were used to sample wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influent and effluent as well as rivers upstream and downstream of the urban complex and the WWTP. Compounds with endocrine disruptive potency were detected in river water and WWTP influent and effluent. Year-round, monthly assessment of waste waters by bioassays documented estrogenic, androgenic and dioxin-like potency as well as cytotoxicity in influent waters of the WWTP and allowed characterization of seasonal variability of these biological potentials in waste waters. The WWTP effectively removed cytotoxic compounds, xenoestrogens and xenoandrogens. There was significant variability in treatment efficiency of dioxin-like potency. The study indicates that the WWTP, despite its up-to-date technology, can contribute endocrine disrupting compounds to the river. Riverine samples exhibited dioxin-like, antiestrogenic and antiandrogenic potencies. The study design enabled characterization of effects of the urban complex and the WWTP on the river. Concentrations of PAHs and contaminants and specific biological potencies sampled by POCIS decreased as a function of distance from the city.
- MeSH
- Receptors, Androgen metabolism MeSH
- Androgens analysis pharmacology MeSH
- Biological Assay MeSH
- Water Pollutants, Chemical analysis pharmacology MeSH
- Water Purification MeSH
- Dioxins analysis pharmacology MeSH
- Endocrine Disruptors analysis pharmacology MeSH
- Estrogens analysis pharmacology MeSH
- Rats MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring MeSH
- Cell Line, Tumor MeSH
- Wastewater chemistry MeSH
- Pesticides analysis pharmacology MeSH
- Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins analysis pharmacology MeSH
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons analysis pharmacology MeSH
- Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon metabolism MeSH
- Receptors, Estrogen metabolism MeSH
- Rivers chemistry MeSH
- Waste Disposal Facilities MeSH
- Cities MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Rats MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
- Cities MeSH
