Selected persistent organochlorine pollutants in Romania

Selected persistent organochlorine pollutants, including PCBs, DDT and its metabolites (DDTs) and hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs) were determined in soil, animal fat and human serum samples from Romania. All methods were rigorously tested and adequate quality control was ensured. Soil samples from lassy County showed a lower contamination with organochlorines than samples from other Romanian regions. While DDTs concentrations in soil were significantly higher at rural sites, only few samples (three out of 47) exceeded the official Romanian norms for DDTs. PCBs concentrations were low in rural sites (< 8 ng/g soil), but rather high (up to 134 ng/g soil) in urban soils collected mostly from parks (Bucharest, Arad, Baia Mare, Pitesti and Ploicsti). Animal fat samples from lassy showed high concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (HCHs concentrations up to 12370 ng/g fat), but similar PCB concentrations when compared with Arad samples. Two samples (from 24) exceeded the EU norms (1000 ng/g fat) for HCHs and DDTs in animal fat. Organochlorines were found in higher concentrations in some samples of human serum from Timisoara due to a broader age range. Samples of human serum from lassy mothers showed higher HCHs and DDTs concentrations than samples from a similar group from Antwerp, Belgium. HCB and PCBs were higher in Antwerp cohort. Romanian samples showed a higher ratio DDT/sigmaDDTs, but similar ratios PCB 153/sigmaPCBs.