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Identification of the Contamination Sources by PCBs Using Multivariate Analyses: The Case Study of the Annaba Bay (Algeria) Basin

Authors :
Soumeya Khaled-Khodja
Hassen Cheraitia
Karima Rouibah
Hana Ferkous
Gaël Durand
Semia Cherif
Gamal A. El-Hiti
Krishna Kumar Yadav
Alessandro Erto
Yacine Benguerba
Source :
Molecules, Vol 28, Iss 19, p 6841 (2023)
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2023.

Abstract

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), particularly the indicator polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were first quantified in water and sediments of two wadis, Boujemaâ and Seybouse, as well as in the effluents from a fertilizer and phytosanitary production industrial plant (Fertial). Since these contaminated discharges end in Annaba Bay (Algeria) in the Mediterranean Sea, with a significant level of contamination, all the potential sources should be identified. In this work, this task is conducted by a multivariate analysis. Liquid–liquid extraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS) methods were applied to quantify seven PCB congeners, usually taken as indicators of contamination. The sum of the PCB concentrations in the sediments ranged from 1 to 6.4 μg/kg dw (dry weight) and up to 0.027 μg/L in waters. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were used for the multivariate analysis, indicating that the main sources of PCB emissions in the bay are urban/domestic and agricultural/industrial. The outfalls that mostly contribute to the pollution of the gulf are the Boujemaâ wadi, followed by the Seybouse wadi, and finally by the Fertial cluster and more precisely the annex basin of the plant. Although referring to a specific site of local importance, the work aims to present a procedure and a methodological analysis that can be potentially applicable to further case studies all over the world.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
14203049
Volume :
28
Issue :
19
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Molecules
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.b0d4ed4a75f447c6b05832b8ffff522d
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28196841