Polychlorinated Biphenyls Contamination of Sludge in India

Khageshwar Singh Patel¹, Shobhana Ramteke¹, Bharat Lal Sahu¹, Yogita Nayak¹, Saroj Sharma², Chin-Chang Hung³

¹School of Studies in Chemistry/Environmental Science, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, India.
²Department of Chemistry, Devi Rathi Mahila Mahavidhaya, Rajnandagaon, India.
³Institute of Marine Environmental Chemistry and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan.

DOI: 10.4236/ajac.2015.611082                

Abstract

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) exist in all compartments of the ecosystem due to wide industrial applications and production during burning processes. The PCBs congeners were quantified in the industrial, municipal and agricultural wastes of the most industrialized area of the country, Raipur city, India. The concentration of ΣPCBs in the sludge, sewage and agriculture wastes (n = 4) was ranged from 497 - 800 μg/kg with mean value of 634 ± 146 μg/kg. The PCBs congeners detected in the waste materials were ranged from 56 - 85 with mean value of 75 ± 13. The highest number of congeners was quantified in the sludge materials due to the existence of the heavy PCBs. The PCBs congeners were found to decrease vertically due to the adsorption by the geo-media. The distribution, sources and toxicities of PCBs congeners in the waste materials are discussed.

Keywords

Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Sewage, Sludge, Contamination

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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