Study of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soil samples from Al-Ahdab oil field in Waset region/Iraq

Abstract

Levels of twelve Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were studied in soil samples collected from the vicinity of the Ahdab oil field in Kut area/Iraq. All the samples were extracted, cleaned up and analyzed using GC/MS for dioxin-like PCBs. The total concentration of PCBs ranged between 38 μg/kg (site 16) and 980 μg/kg (site 15) with a total mean concentration of 270 μg/kg. Pentachlorobiphenyls were the predominant PCB congeners, accounting for 57.6% of the total PCB concentration found in the soil samples. The toxicity equivalents (TEQ PCBs) in all the soil samples were found in the range of 0.01–35.66 μg TEQ/kg which is 400-fold higher than other studies. Sixteen of the 24 studied soil samples show a carcinogenity higher than the allowable concentration of 5 μg WHO-TEQ/kg.