Presence of banned chlorinated pollutants in sediments of the Northern Iberian Coast

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are industrial chemical compounds that were banned in the mid-1970s owing to concerns about their toxicity, persistence and potential to bioaccumulate in the environment. However, despite European and global action, releases continue through diffuse emissions to air and water and PCBs concentrations are still detected in environmental matrices. In the framework of the Regional Sea Conventions such as OSPAR or Barcelona Convention, it is proposed to monitor the concentrations of pollutants that include, at least, the following PCBs: CB 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 and 180. A control of the described PCBs presence was performed in a set of more than 70 surficial marine sediment samples distributed in the Gulf of Biscay/Atlantic coastal area. The analysis includes an accelerated solvent extraction step (ASE) followed by detection in a gas chromatography coupled to ECD detector. The analysis was under QA/QC to guarantee the quality of the results. The results indicate a detectable presence of PCBs pointing out higher concentration in eastern stations. Background Assessment Concentration (BACs) and Environmental Assessment Criteria (EAC) are assessment criteria that in place for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sediment and they were used to evaluate the concentrations found. Most of the sediments have concentrations close to or even smaller than the BACs but in some specific sediments the concentration of some of the PCBs exceeds the EAC indicating possible toxic effects