Occurrence and significance of polychlorinated biphenyls in water, sediment pore water and surface sediments of Umgeni River, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Loading...
Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Environmental monitoring and assessment
Abstract
The Umgeni River is one of the main sources
of water in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; however;
there is currently a lack of information on the presence
and distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in
its sediment, sediment pore water and surface water.
This study aims to determine the occurrence and significance
of selected PCBs in the surface water, sediment
pore water and surface sediment samples from the
Umgeni River. Liquid-liquid and soxhlet extractions
were used for water or pore water, and sediments, respectively.
Extracts were cleaned up using a florisil
column and analysed by gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry. The total concentrations of eight
polychlorinated biphenyls were 6.91–21.69 ng/mL,
40.67–252.30 ng/mL and 102.60–427.80 ng/g (dry
weight), in unfiltered surface water, unfiltered sediment
pore water and surface sediments, respectively. The
percentage contributions of various matrices were 4,
36 and 60% for unfiltered surface water, unfiltered pore
water and sediment, respectively. The highest concentrations
of PCBs were found in water, pore water and
sediment collected from sampling sites close to the
Northern Wastewater Treatment Works. The highest
chlorinated biphenyl, PCB 180, was the most abundant
at almost all sampling sites. To our knowledge, this is
the first report on occurrence of polychlorinated biphenyls
in the Umgeni River water, pore water and sediment
system and our results provide valuable information
regarding the partitioning of the PCBs between the
water and sediment systems as well as the organic
chemical quality of the water.
Description
Keywords
Umgeni River, Sediment, Pore water, Polychlorinated biphenyls, Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
Citation
Gakuba, E., Moodley, B., Ndungu, P., & Birungi, G. (2015). Occurrence and significance of polychlorinated biphenyls in water, sediment pore water and surface sediments of Umgeni River, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 187(9), 1-14. DOI 10.1007/s10661-015-4790-1