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Polychlorinated biphenyl contamination to the Canadian arctic from landfills and sewage treatment outlets


Citation

Kannan, Narayanan and Kuruthachalam, Senthil Kumar and Danon-Schaffer, Monica and Shim, Won Joon (2013) Polychlorinated biphenyl contamination to the Canadian arctic from landfills and sewage treatment outlets. In: International Conference on Environmental Forensics 2013, 11-14 Nov. 2013, Marriot Hotel, Putrajaya, Malaysia. (pp. 67-71).

Abstract

An investigation was undertaken in soil from the Canadian polar circle [Yellowknife (YELL), Iqaluit (IQA), and Cambridge Bay (CAM)]. Twenty four soil samples (YELL = 3, IQA = 15, CAM = 6) were collected with the depths of 0–20 cm below surface. Eighty major PCBs congeners were analyzed and twenty two PCBs were detected. Concentrations of PCBs in IQA were found to be the highest (0.11–1111 ng/g on dry weight basis), following in decreasing order: CAM (0.07–145 ng/g) and YELL (0.4–7.1 ng/g). Contamination profiles of PCB congeners were different between Iqaluit samples, while PCBs congener profiles were similar in Yellowknife and Cambridge Bay areas. The background sample sites were chosen to be representative of clean and undisturbed soils. The large difference in concentrations observed between dumpsites and background soil samples suggest PCB deposition into these dumpsites from materials discarded within. This is yet another evidence to show that previously pristine Polar Regions are increasingly getting contaminated through human activities. PCBs are excellent industrial markers in this forensic investigation.


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Additional Metadata

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Divisions: Faculty of Environmental Studies
DOI Number: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-70-2_13
Publisher: Springer
Keywords: PCBs; Arctic; Forensic
Depositing User: Nabilah Mustapa
Date Deposited: 07 Jun 2017 08:44
Last Modified: 07 Jun 2017 08:44
Altmetrics: http://www.altmetric.com/details.php?domain=psasir.upm.edu.my&doi=10.1007/978-981-4560-70-2_13
URI: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/55705
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