PCDD/Fs and PCBs in soils: A study of case in the city of Belo Horizonte-MG

Igor C. Pussente*, Guillaume ten Dam, Stefan van Leeuwen, Rodinei Augusti

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    6 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)) are substances that represent a global concern due to their ubiquitous presence and toxicity. Industrial processes and other human activities as well as uncontrollable accidents are the main sources that release these pollutants into the environment. The presence of these compounds has been reported in soils from Europe, Asia and Africa, but currently, there is not much information of dioxin levels in soils from Brazil. This paper presents the levels of PCDD/Fs, dioxin-like PCBs (dl-PCBs) and non-dioxin-like PCBs (ndl-PCBs) in soils collected from urban areas of Belo Horizonte city, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Total toxic equivalents (TEQ) observed ranged from 0.43 to 4.54 ng TEQ kg-1 d.m. The highest concentration TEQ found was 2.68 (± 1.63) ng TEQ kg-1 d.m. The low total TEQ achieved suggests that the locations evaluated are not being affected by possible sources of dioxin emissions, although Belo Horizonte is surrounded by a number of them.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)858-867
    JournalJournal of the Brazilian Chemical Society
    Volume28
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017

    Keywords

    • Dioxin-like PCBs
    • Distribution pattern
    • PCDD/Fs
    • Urban soil

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'PCDD/Fs and PCBs in soils: A study of case in the city of Belo Horizonte-MG'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this