Application of congener based multi-matrix profiling techniques to identify potential PCDD/F sources in environmental samples from the Burrishoole Catchment in the West of Ireland

• Published in: Environmental Pollution
• Main Authors: White, P., McHugh, B., Poole, R., McGovern, E., White, J., Behan, P., Foley, B., Covaci, A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2014
• Subjects: PCDD/F; Anguilla anguilla; Passive samplers; Principal components analysis; Pentachlorophenol
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10793/1242

Peer-reviewed. Homologue and congener profiles of PCDD/Fs in eels, passive sampler and sediment extracts from the Burrishoole, a rural upland catchment on the western Irish seaboard were compared with potential PCDD sources. ΣPCDD/F levels in eels ranged from 2.9 to 25.9 pg g−1 wet weight, which are elevated compared to other Irish locations. The OCDD congener dominated the pattern of ΣPCDD/Fs in all matrices from Burrishoole. Passive samplers were successfully deployed to identify for the first time the presence in the water column of PCDD/Fs and dimethoxylated octachlorodiphenyl ether (diMeOoctaCDE), impurities found in pentachlorophenol (PCP) production. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified similarities between PCDD/F profiles in technical PCP mixtures and environmental samples from the Burrishoole region. Results strongly suggest residual PCDD contamination associated with historic local use of a dioxin contaminated product in the catchment area, with pentachlorophenol a strong candidate.