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Concomitant evaluation of atmospheric levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Strasbourg (France) using pine needle passive samplers

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Abstract

In this study, pine needles were used as cost-effective and reliable passive bio-monitors to concomitantly evaluate atmospheric concentrations of three classes of persistent organic pollutants, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The extraction of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from needle samples was performed. Eleven PCBs, 11 OCPs, and 15 PAHs were detected and followed through time in needle samples from three sites in the Strasbourg region. The urban and rural sites were more exposed to PCBs than the suburban site. The highest concentration of PCBs was found at the urban site, but the largest number of congeners (10) was detected at the rural site. PCB 189 and 156 were the predominant congeners in the rural site and PCB 70 in the urban site. For OCPs, the rural site displayed the highest concentrations (up to 22.9 ng g−1) and number of compounds investigated (9). The high concentration of γ- and β-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) at that time in the urban site was the reason for this result. γ- and β-HCH were the two predominant compounds in all samples. The suburban and urban sites were the most exposed with PAHs with pyrene, phenanthrene, and acenaphthene being the three predominant compounds in these sites. No specific trend in terms of time was apparent for PCBs and OCPs. However, higher concentrations were detected for some compounds in the first sampling, especially for PAHs, and this is attributed to variations in meteorological conditions (e.g., temperature, wind, rain) and variable inputs from both identified and unidentified sources.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support to the project from the CNRS for the “Zone Atelier de l’Environnement urbain de Strasbourg” (za-eus.in2p3.fr) as well as from REALISE, the Alsace network of engineering, and research laboratories for environmental sciences (realise.unistra.fr) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Equipe Physico-chimie de l’atmosphère, UMR 7515 CNRS Institut de Chimie et Procédés pour l’Energie, l’Environnement et la Santé (ICPEES), Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

    Enaam Jamal Al Dine, Haifaa Mokbel & Maurice Millet

  2. Laboratoire des Matériaux, Catalyse, Environnement et Méthodes Analytiques (LMCEMA), Ecole doctorale des sciences et technologies, Hadath, Beirut, Lebanon

    Enaam Jamal Al Dine, Haifaa Mokbel, Ahmad Elmoll, Joumana Toufaily & Tayssir Hanieh

  3. Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie, UMR 7178 CNRS, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

    Sylvie Massemin

  4. Equipe Adaptations et interactions microbiennes dans l’environnement, UMR 7156 CNRS Génétique Moléculaire, Génomique, Microbiologie, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

    Stéphane Vuilleumier

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  1. Enaam Jamal Al Dine
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  2. Haifaa Mokbel
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  3. Ahmad Elmoll
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  4. Sylvie Massemin
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  5. Stéphane Vuilleumier
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  6. Joumana Toufaily
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  7. Tayssir Hanieh
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  8. Maurice Millet
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Correspondence to Maurice Millet.

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Responsible editor: Constantini Samara

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Al Dine, E.J., Mokbel, H., Elmoll, A. et al. Concomitant evaluation of atmospheric levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Strasbourg (France) using pine needle passive samplers. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 17850–17859 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5030-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5030-5

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