Kaoruko Mizukawa, Hideshige Takada, Maki Ito, Yeo Bee Geok, Junki
Hosoda, Rei Yamashita, Mahua Saha, Satoru Suzuki, Carlos Miguez, João
Frias, Joana Cepeda Antunes, Paula Sobral, Isabelina Santos, Cristina
Micaelo, Ana Maria Ferreira, Monitoring of a wide range of organic
micropollutants on the Portuguese coast using plastic resin pellets,
Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 70, Issues 1–2, 15 May 2013, Pages
296-302, ISSN 0025-326X, 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.02.008.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X13000647)
Abstract: We analyzed polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyl
dichloroethane and its metabolites, hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs),
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and hopanes, in plastic resin
pellets collected from nine locations along the Portuguese coast.
Concentrations of a sum of 13 PCBs were one order of magnitude higher in
two major cities (Porto: 307 ng/g-pellet; Lisboa: 273 ng/g-pellet) than
in the seven rural sites. Lower chlorinated congeners were more abundant
in the rural sites than in the cities, suggesting atmospheric
dispersion. At most of the locations, PAH concentrations (sum of 33 PAH
species) were ∼100 to ∼300 ng/g-pellet; however, three orders of
magnitude higher concentrations of PAHs, with a petrogenic signature,
were detected at a small city (Sines). Hopanes were detected in the
pellets at all locations. This study demonstrated that multiple sample
locations, including locations in both urban and remote areas, are
necessary for country-scale pellet watch.