Persistent organic pollutants in two reservoirs along the Paraíba do Sul-Guandu river system, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

Sediment contamination is evaluated by determining organic micropollutants (organochlorine compounds - OCs and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - PAHs) in two important Brazilian water reservoirs. Trace levels of OCs were observed in the Santana reservoir (44.8 ng g-1 d.w. of p,p′-DDT), while in the Funil reservoir the levels were below detection level. Forty-eight percent of the found ∑OCs were polychlorinated biphenyls, 29% dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), 18% Drins, and 5% other pesticides (HCB, Heptachlor, Heptachlor-epoxide, γ-HCH and a-Endosulfan). We observed lower levels of ∑PAH in the Funil reservoir (1 to 275 ng g-1d.w.) than in the Santana reservoir (2.2 to 26.7 μg g-1 d.w.).