ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Determination of PAHs and PCBs in the Polish
Area of Shipwreck Exploration
Marzena Bogdaniuk, Grażyna Sapota, Grażyna Dembska, Barbara Aftanas
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Department of Environmental Protection, Maritime Institute in Gdańsk,
Długi Targ 41/42, 80-830 Gdańsk, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2012;21(2):297-306
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Wrecks are a serious danger to marine ecosystems. This danger includes the possibility of a single
spill of toxic substances from a wreck, or may result from slow seepage of the substances. The investigations
of organic pollutants in water and bottom sediment samples were taken in Pomeranian Bay, Puck Bay,
and the Gulf of Gdańsk from sites where the wrecks of the ships Neuwerk, Orion, Schlessien, and a fishing
vessel were lifted. In the present work are shown results of analysis of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
– PAHs (naphthalene, acenaphtylene, acenaphtene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene,
pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene,
dibenz(ah)anthracene, benzo(ghi)perylene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene), and 7 polychlorinated biphenyls – PCBs
(CB 28, CB 52, CB 101, CB 118, CB 138, CB 153, CB 180) in water and sediment samples. Samples were
taken at sites from which wrecks had been lifted and in reference areas. Organic pollutants were analyzed
using the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. Levels of pollutants of PAHs were analyzed
in water samples contained from below detection limit 1.0 ng⋅dm-3 to 31.0±0.6 ng⋅dm-3. The concentrations
of PCB congeners in water samples were below detection limit 1.0 ng⋅dm-3. The sum of PAHs in sediment
samples ranged from 0.091±0.004 mg⋅kg-1 d.w. to 6.57±0.32 mg⋅kg-1 d.w. and the sum of PCBs oscillated
from 0.001 mg⋅kg-1 d.w. to 0.42±0.02 mg⋅kg-1 d.w.