Evaluation of Organochlorine Pesticides (OCPs) and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Concentrations in the River and Marine Sediments of Samsun Coastline

Today, the persistent organic pollutant loads which are formed as a result of modern agriculture and industrial production are becoming very dangerous for the environment and human health. Exposure of living things to these pollutants can occur by direct exposure to pollutants emission or by transport of pollutants as a result of food chain and meteorological events. For this reason, all environmental samples should be analyzed in this context and risk assessments should be made especially for regions where pollutant emissions may occur. In this study, bottom sediment sampling was made from a total of 16 stations including 8 freshwater and 8 seawater from the region located on the coastline of Yeşilırmak Basin. In sediment samples analysis were carried out for persistent organic pollutant (POP) groups (PCB, OCP) using standard methods. The toxic effects of the determined concentrations of the pollutants, which are situated in national and international legislations, primarily, were evaluated as a result of the related analysis. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MSMS) systems were used for PCB and OCP analyses. As a result of the analyses, for 7 total PCB congeners with 23.73 μg kg –1 near the smelting and electrolysis plant at the Marine-5 coded marine station and for the OCP compounds, the highest concentrations were detected as agricultural activities at 8 freshwater sampling stations. PCB 138 compound with 4.99 PCB μg kg –1 for PCB and in the freshwater sampling stations 10.03 μg kg –1 for OCP with 4,4'-DDT have been observed. When the total results of POP analysis of sediment samples are evaluated, it has been observed that there are unintentionally occurring compounds, but their effect levels are low in terms of aquatic life.