Seasonal variation, sources, and gas/particle concentrations of PCBs and OCPs at high altitude suburban site in Western Black Sea Region of Turkey

Abstract

Daily gas and particle phase samples were collected during winter and summer seasons in Bolu, which is located in the high altitude Western Black Sea Region of Turkey. Samples were analyzed to determine the concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). Concentrations of endosulfan sulfate and methoxychlor were found to be highest in the summer and winter periods, respectively. The measured average concentration of endrin was considerably higher (10-50 fold) than the values reported in the literature for similar sites. The agricultural areas located to the south, south-east and south-west of the sampling point were identified as source regions. PCBs were found predominantly in the gas phase in both seasons and 3-chlorinated biphenyls were found to be abundant in the winter period, due to pollutants transported from the city centre and a waste incineration plant by southerly and easterly winds. The concentrations of PCB-180 and PCB-194 were found to be higher than values reported in the literature. The correlation between atmospheric concentrations and temperature was obtained by using Clausius-Clapeyron (CC) plots. The CC plots for most of the OCPs showed shallow negative slopes with low r(2) values, which might be due to the presence of local sources, i.e., agricultural areas around the sampling site and the dominance of evaporation. The CC plots showed steep positive slopes for most of the PCB compounds. Most of the PCB compounds were carried from the ongoing local sources.