Air, Soil and Water Research

Vladimír Kočí¹, Tomáš Ocelka² and Roman Grabic²

¹Department of Environmental Chemistry, ICT Prague, Technicka 5, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic. ²Institute of Public Health Ostrava, National Reference laboratory for POPs, Partyzanske nam. 7, 702 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Abstract

Persistent compounds are present around almost the entire world. The level of contamination in very old groundwater sources (Cennoman bedrock Mesozoic, approximately 100 million years old) was assessed. This offers an information about realistic natural background. Together with chemical analysis a toxicity evaluation of sampled sites was performed. Semipermeable membrane devices were applied as a sampling system. Exposed SPMDs were analyzed both for chemical contain of POPs and toxicity properties. The chemical analyses of PAHs were made by HPLC-FLD, PCBs and OCPs were analysed by GC/MS/MS on GCQ or PolarisQ (Thermoquest). Toxicity bioassays on alga Desmodesmus subspicatus, bacteria Vibrio fischeri and crustacean Daphnia magna was performed. The results show very low contamination of groundwater with POPs with concentrations close to detection limits of applied analytical tools. Even this low contamination was possible to rank based on the obtained toxicity data. Toxicity proved to be a good parameter for determination of relative POPs contamination where concentration is near to detection limits and thus correct determination of all POPs cannot be undertaken. Although contamination levels were found to be very low, a secondary contamination of PCBs through the bedrock was observed. Organochlorine pesticides were found at a sampling site near a mouth of the ground watershed. Applied toxicity tests confirmed the presence of toxic substances and marked sites of higher contamination. Application of toxicological parameter Vtox allowed the ranking of assessed sites by their contamination level even in cases where concentrations of pollutants were near or under detection limits and it was not therefore possible to rank the sites on the basis of chemical parameters. Toxicity response of bioassays obtained on SPMDs exposed in clean groundwater can be used as a background toxicity values for further SPMD applications. Secondary contamination with PCBs and pesticides was detected in Cennoman groundwater. Toxicity evaluation of SPMD extract can be used as an effective tool for ranking of general level of water contamination.