Impact of floods on concentration of persistent organic pollutants in Aoös River, Albania

ABSTRACT

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and pesticides were measured in water samples from six sites on the Aoös River in southern Albania via gas chromatography. Samples were collected in September 2017 (fall) and March 2018 (spring), before and after heavy flooding of the river in December 2017, respectively. The total PCBs lowest concentration increased from 0.6 µg L⁻¹ to 0.62 µg L⁻¹ and highest concentration increased from 32.64 µg L⁻¹ to 36.57 µg L⁻¹, respectively before and after heavy floods. The total BTEX lowest concentration increased from 1.6 µg L⁻¹ to 1.82 µg L⁻¹ and total highest concentration increased from 45.4 µg L⁻¹ to 49.32 µg L⁻¹. Pesticides total lowest concentration increased from 1.37 µg L⁻¹ to 1.53 µg L⁻¹ and highest concentration increased from 269.57 µg L⁻¹ to 289.26 µg L⁻¹. In contrast, the total PAH lowest concentration remained constant 0.01 µg L⁻¹ and the highest concentration decreased from 0.45 µg L⁻¹ to 0.25 µg L⁻¹. Concentrations of PCBs, BTEX and Pesticides increased after winter floods in 2017, while the concentration of PAH decreased. This study was the first to investigate the seasonal variability of various POPs in the Aoös River. I found that the levels of the selected POPs were higher than the recommended standard values, suggesting significant pollution of the river, particularly after the occurrence of winter flood events.

KEYWORDS:

• POPs
• BTEX
• pesticides
• PCBs
• PAHs
• concentration
• floods
• surface water

Acknowledgments

Author would like to thank for the support of this study the University of Tirana, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Chemistry department in Albania.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).