Murugan Karuvelan, Vasudevan Namasivayam
Centre for Environmental Studies, Anna University, CEG Campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Environ Monit Assess. 2017 Sep 5;189(10):487. doi: 10.1007/s10661-017-6186-x.
The persistent organic pollutants in the environment are one of the global issues to their unregulated disposal and informal recycling. This study investigates the contamination of soil with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenolic compounds and heavy metals via spillage of transformer oil (TO). Fresh TO (FTO), used TO (UTO) and soil samples were analysed using GC-MS to confirm the presence of 8 PCB congeners, 16 PAHs and 24 types of phenolic compounds and using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry to confirm the presence of 7 heavy metals. The chromatographic analysis revealed the levels of mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta-, hexa-, hepta- and octachlorobiphenyls in FTO to be 5.63, 25.24, 0.195, 0.185, 2.169, 1.023 and 5.28 mg/L and the level of mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta- and hexachlorobiphenyls in UTO to be 0.27, 1.21, 1.31, 0.80, 1.77 and 3.90 mg/L. Analysis of soil from 10 different TO-contaminated sites showed the presence of PCBs, PAHs, phenolic compounds and heavy metals in the concentration range of 0.53-42.87 mg/kg, 3.19-246.6 μg/kg, 0.01-4086.45 μg/kg and 1.0-401.3 mg/kg, respectively. The variation in the concentration of these compounds and heavy metals among different sampling sites was determined using principal component analysis (PCA), metric multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) and Bray-Curtis cluster analysis (Bu-CA). The toxicity equivalence factor and the mechanism involved in the disruption of endocrine system are discussed. Thus, this study exemplifies the need for complete ban of PCB-containing TOs in developing countries and urges the need for technology for the disposal of TO.
环境中的持久性有机污染物是因其无节制处置和非正规回收而产生的全球性问题之一。本研究调查了变压器油（TO）泄漏导致土壤被多氯联苯（PCBs）、多环芳烃（PAHs）、酚类化合物和重金属污染的情况。使用气相色谱 - 质谱联用仪（GC-MS）对新鲜变压器油（FTO）、使用过的变压器油（UTO）和土壤样品进行分析，以确认8种多氯联苯同系物、16种多环芳烃和24种酚类化合物的存在，并使用电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪确认7种重金属的存在。色谱分析显示，新鲜变压器油中一氯、二氯、三氯、四氯、五氯、六氯、七氯和八氯联苯的含量分别为5.63、25.24、0.195、0.185、2.169、1.023和5.28mg/L，使用过的变压器油中一氯、二氯、三氯、四氯、五氯和六氯联苯的含量分别为0.27、1.21、1.31、0.80、1.77和3.90mg/L。对10个不同的受变压器油污染场地的土壤分析表明，多氯联苯、多环芳烃、酚类化合物和重金属的含量范围分别为0.53 - 42.87mg/kg、3.19 - 246.6μg/kg、0.01 - 4086.45μg/kg和1.0 - 401.3mg/kg。使用主成分分析（PCA）、度量多维标度分析（MDS）和布雷 - 柯蒂斯聚类分析（Bu-CA）确定了不同采样点这些化合物和重金属浓度的变化情况。讨论了毒性当量因子以及内分泌系统破坏所涉及的机制。因此，本研究例证了发展中国家全面禁止含多氯联苯变压器油的必要性，并迫切需要处理变压器油的技术。
