QUANTIFYING SHORT CHAIN CHLORINATED PARAFFINS IN SEDIMENT

Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) are industrially produced compounds of the general formula Cn H2n-2-z Clz, with the chlorine content between 10-72 %. Because of their chemical and thermal stability and high viscosity, chlorinated paraffins replaced PCBs in many applications after PCB usage was banned (Tomy G.T.et al., 1998; Coelhan M.et al., 2000; Koh I.O.et al., 2002): as lubricants and cutting fluids in metalworking industry, as flame retardants, paints, sealing materials and others. In the last decade, the annual world-wide production of CPs has been estimated to 300 000 tons. The stability and low vapor pressure of CPs (comparable with PCBs and other semi-volatile compounds) influences their persistence in the environment. They have a potency to bioconcentration in the living organisms where they can cause a grow inhibition. CP pollutants were suggested to be included into UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution POPs Protocol after analysis the air samples from United Kingdom. The short chain chlorinated paraffins are listed as toxic compounds for aquatic organisms (WHO (World Health Organization), 1996; Vollrath A.R., 1998), the United States have placed CPs C10-C13 on the Environmental Protect Agency’s (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), and Canada has included them on Environment Canada’s Priority Substances List (Tomy G.T.et al., 1999)