Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants which were not
produced in Turkey, however both national and international studies illustrate a
measurable amount of PCB pollution in receiving environments, aquatic fauna and
people. In this study, various information sources such as the national and
international scientific literature, official records and reports are investigated to
obtain information regarding PCB pollution in Turkey. Furthermore, various PCB
pollution analysis techniques for soil/sediment samples are investigated and the
selected methods are established in the laboratories of METU. Satisfactory
recoveries are obtained for methods for the extraction of PCBs, clean-up of extract
and gas chromatographic (GC/ECD) analysis of the sample. Finally, field studies are
performed in two locations in Ankara. The first one is a preliminary pollution
investigation study around Lake Eymir. Lake Eymir is suspected to be contaminated
with PCBs due to a nearby transformer repair facility. The second, more detailed
study is performed for a 25 km reach of Ankara Creek, passing through the Industrial
Zone, Sincan Dumpsite and Ankara Central Wastewater Treatment Plant. Total- PCB
concentrations are in the range of 0.2 and 777 ng/g with the median of 37.1 ng/g.
Toxic Equivalent Concentrations (TEQ) are assessed for dioxin-like congeners and
Aroclor 1016/1260 basis. A Chemical Mass Balance Model is used to identify and apportion the sources of PCBs for Ankara Creek samples. Typically highly
chlorinated Clophen mixtures are identified in sediments as the pollution sources.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/3/12611346/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 December 2009 |
| Creators | Akduman, Nazan |
| Contributors | Imamoglu, Ipek |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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