Water concentrations of PAH, PCB and OCP by using semipermeable membrane devices and sediments

Water concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were estimated from semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and from sediment pollutant concentrations. SPMDs were deployed in the Istanbul Strait and Marmara Sea and retrieved after 7 and 21 days. Performance reference compounds (PRCs) were used to determine the site-specific sampling rates of the compounds. Water concentrations (C(w)) of the analyzed compounds estimated by using two different calculation methods for SPMDs were found similar. C(w) of total PAHs estimated from SPMDs (C(w-spmd)) were found between 13 and 79 ng L⁻¹ and between 7.0 and 68 ng L⁻¹ for 7 and 21 days of deployments respectively. Water concentrations of PCBs using sediment data was found as between 0.001 and 11.0 ng L⁻¹. The highest value of C(w-spmd) for two deployments were 2.8 ng L⁻¹ for OCPs. C(w) estimated from sediment concentrations were generally higher than those estimated from SPMDs.