Impact of legacy and unintentionally produced polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in effluents from two wastewater treatment plants in rivers near Barcelona, Spain

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a family of 209 congeners listed as Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Stockholm Convention. Although there has been a lot of focus on those congeners present in the Aroclor or Clophen technical mixtures commercialized in the past (legacy PCBs), other industrial processes such as paint and pigment production can generate other congeners as byproducts (Unintentionally Produced PCBs or UP-PCBs). The present study focuses on the analysis of 72 PCB congeners (including 42 UP-PCBs) in the two major rivers surrounding the city of Barcelona -Llobregat and Besós rivers-, and their levels in two wastewater treatment plants during the production of effluents and reclaimed water. It was observed that WWTP can efficiently remove PCBs from untreated water during sludge production where concentrations are six orders of magnitude higher than in water (in the ng g−1 and pg L−1 ranges, respectively). Although PCB levels in the effluent and reclaimed water replenishing the rivers are not negligible, these do not significantly increase the concentrations already found in the studied rivers, and in most cases PCB concentrations in river water are reduced after merging with the reclaimed water due to dilution effect. The presence of UP-PCB-11 (not present in the Aroclor technical mixtures) in the analyzed water and sludge samples is significant (ranging from 22 to 25 % of the total PCB amount in the Besós river), being often one of the most abundant PCB congeners. [Display omitted] •WWTP can efficiently remove PCBs (>90 %) from wastewater during sludge production.•UP-PCB-11 contribution to total PCBs was significant in water and sludge (22–24 %).•WWTP effluent lowered PCB concentrations in the studied rivers by dilution effect.