Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the Baikal Ecosystem
A. G. GORSHKOV1, O. V. KUSTOVA1, E. V. DZYUBA1, YU. R. ZAKHAROVA1, S. M. SHISHLYANNIKOV1, V. A. KHUTORYANSKIY2
1Limnological Institute, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk Russia
2Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, Russia
Keywords: PCB, Lake Baikal, monitoring, environmental indicators
Pages: 255-264
Abstract
The paper gives assessment of the content of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in the upper water layer and deep water levels (900-1500 m) of Lake Baikal at the current stage. The total concentrations of PCB congeners (PCB content from 24 to 34 congeners) are varied in a range of 1.4-7.2 ng/dm3. Domination of tri-, tetra- and pentachlorinated biphenyls in a series of PCB homologs has been observed, which points out at long-range atmospheric transport as a major source of PCB. Polychlorinated biphenyls content in the upper water layer of Lake Baikal is comparable or significantly lower in comparison with that of water in continental world lakes but higher in comparison with Arctic and Antarctic lakes. Commercial fish species omul (C. migratorius Georgi, 1775) were proposed as a biomonitor of PCB in the Baikal ecosystem. By the accumulation level of seven indicator PCB congeners (Nos. 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 and 180 by IUPAC) in omul and bulltrout (Salmo trutta) from highland lakes of South and Central Europe, the amounts of bioavailable PCB in water of these lakes are comparable between each other. The results of approbation of the method for determination of indicator PCB congeners in water and omul samples using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) and isotopically labelled internal standards may form the basis of the modern system of monitoring of persistent organic pollutants in the Baikal ecosystem.
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