Research On Selected Persistent Organic Pollutents (POPs) In Water Of Songhua River

The environmtal chemistry and ecotoxicology of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a fascinating area in scientific research. POPs are persistent in both abiota and biota environments, toxic, and can be accumulated in food-chains. The objectives of this work are to monitore contamination levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Organochlorine Pesticides (OCPs), and Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in water of Songhua River, to investigate the spatial distributions of these chemicals in the river, and to study the possible sources of these POPs found in water of Songhua River. This work has conducted a systematic research on POPs for the first time in this river.The method of liquid/liquid has been adopted for extraction and GC/MS has been used for analysis of POPs in extracts. Optimize the method for extraction and analysis. Liquid/liquid method for extraction, silica gel column for cleanup, GC/MS was used to analyze the samples. The determination limits of the methods for PCBs, PAHs and OCPs are 0.11~0.48ng/L, 0.43~1.61ng/L and 0.03~0.37ng/L, respectively, which is available for detecting trace materials.Total PCBs in the Songhua River of Heilongjiang Province is 0.26 ~3.96ng/L, and the total PCBs in the Songhua River of Harbin is 0.8~178ng/L, in water congeners of PCBs from 2 to 4 chlorines atoms are in the majority. The PCBs in the Songhua River of Harbin may origin from China produced one types of PCB, that is #1 PCB.Total PAHs in the Songhua River of Heilongjiang Province is 118~238ng/L, and the total PAHs in the Songhua River of Harbin is 164~5500ng/L, in water the PAHs dominating congeners is low cyclic compounds. The PAHs in the water may come from mineral burning and autocars.Total OCPs in the Songhua River of Heilongjiang Province is 2.15 ~11.2ng/L, and the total OCPs in the Songhua River of Harbin is 4.7~50ng/L,β-HCH is in the highest flight among HCHs. Former usage of HCHs is the source of HCHs in the water.Total PBDEs in the Songhua River of Harbin is 0.04~5.0ng/L, with high percentages of low-molecular-weights (LMW) PBDEs. The PBDEs in the water are mainly be derived from the PeBDE and OcBDE.