Monitoring of PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs in the Fraser River, British Columbia using SPMD
- Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Sidney, British Columbia (Canada)
- Univ. of Jyvaskyla (Finland)
Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMD) are sampling devices comprised of thin wall polyethylene tubing that encloses a thin film of lipid, triolein. SPMDs have been used successfully to monitor non-polar industrial pollutants from air, water, and sediments. Chemical contaminants dissolved in water dialyze into the lipid mimicking bioconcentration mechanisms in aquatic organisms. The authors have deployed SPMDs at several sites in the water column of the lower Fraser River and the Harisson River, a control site, to assess bioavailability and to determine sources of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), dibenzofurans (PCDF), and mono-ortho and non-ortho substituted polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). SPMD sampling was performed during similar time periods in the summers of 1992 and 1994. PCDDs/Fs and PCBs were extracted from the lipid of the SPMDs using in-house developed methodology and extracts were analyzed and quantitated by HRGC/HRMS. The analytical data were inter-compared for characteristic congener distribution patterns and concentration differences of prominent PCDD/Fs and PCBs congeners between sites and sampling years. River flow rates, as calculated from the IOS Ages/Woollard Fraser River model, were considered for the inter-site comparisons. Relative congener composition from each sample was similar from site to site within a sampling year. Overall levels of prominent contaminants, TCDF and PCB 118 and 105, dropped significantly from 1992 to 1994. Comparisons between the reference site and the Fraser river data differentiate between atmospheric and point source contamination of the river. PCDD/Fs and PCBs were detected in the tissues of two species of Fraser River resident fish, their relation to the SPMD data will be discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 398243
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9649%%451
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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