Determination of Polychlorobiphenyls in Environmental Samples from Antarctica

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Abstract
The analysis of PCBs in sea water samples gathered during the 1990–91 Italian expedition in Terra Nova Bay—Gerlache Inlet showed a typical total concentration of 550 pg/l. A slight increase in PCB content was observed in the surface layer of the water column before pack ice melting, while an increase by a factor of about two was found in the same water layer after pack ice melting. PCBs were also measured in marine sediment, lake sediment and soil samples collected at Terra Nova Bay, Wood Bay and Victoria Land during the 1989–1990 Italian expedition. The relevant concentrations ranged between 45–361, 102–560 and 61–120 pg/g respectively and were strongly dependent on the total particle surface of each sample. PCB congener distributions were centered on 3- to 6-substituted and on 4- to 7-substituted congener classes for sea water and sediment/soil samples respectively, and were typical for each matrix considered.