Organic Pollution in Surface Waters from the Fuglebekken Basin in Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic

The Fuglebekken basin is situated in the southern part of the island of Spitsbergen (Norwegian Arctic), on the Hornsund fjord (Wedel Jarlsberg Land). Surface water was collected from 24 tributaries (B1–B24) and from the main stream water in the Fuglebekken basin (25) between 10 July 2009 and 30 July...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors
Main Authors: Polkowska, Żaneta, Cichała-Kamrowska, Katarzyna, Ruman, Marek, Kozioł, Krystyna, Krawczyk, Wiesława Ewa, Namieśnik, Jacek
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI) 2011
Subjects:
Article
Arctic
Hornsund
Svalbard
Wedel Jarlsberg Land
Wedel-Jarlsberg
Spitsbergen
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3231491
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22164112
https://doi.org/10.3390/s110908910
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Summary:The Fuglebekken basin is situated in the southern part of the island of Spitsbergen (Norwegian Arctic), on the Hornsund fjord (Wedel Jarlsberg Land). Surface water was collected from 24 tributaries (B1–B24) and from the main stream water in the Fuglebekken basin (25) between 10 July 2009 and 30 July 2009. The present investigation reveals the results of the analysis of these samples for their PAH and PCB content. Twelve of 16 PAHs and seven PCBs were determined in the surface waters from 24 tributaries and the main stream. Total PAH and PCB concentrations in the surface waters ranged from 4 to 600 ng/L and from 2 to 400 ng/L respectively. The highest concentrations of an individual PCB (138–308 ng/L and 123 ng/L) were found in samples from tributaries B9 and B5. The presence in the basin (thousands of kilometres distant from industrial centres) of PAHs and PCBs is testimony to the fact that these compounds are transported over vast distances with air masses and deposited in regions devoid of any human pressure.

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