Concomitant evaluation of atmospheric levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Strasbourg (France) using pine needle passive samplers

International audienceIn this study, pine needles were used as costeffectiveand reliable passive bio-monitors to concomitantlyevaluate atmospheric concentrations of three classesof persistent organic pollutants, polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and polycyclicaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The extraction of persistentorganic pollutants (POPs) from needle samples wasperformed. Eleven PCBs, 11 OCPs, and 15 PAHs weredetected and followed through time in needle samplesfrom three sites in the Strasbourg region. The urban andrural sites were more exposed to PCBs than the suburbansite. The highest concentration of PCBs was found at theurban site, but the largest number of congeners (10) wasdetected at the rural site. PCB 189 and 156 were thepredominant congeners in the rural site and PCB 70 inthe urban site. For OCPs, the rural site displayed thehighest concentrations (up to 22.9 ng g−1) and number ofcompounds investigated (9). The high concentration of γ-and β-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) at that time in theurban site was the reason for this result. γ- and β-HCHwere the two predominant compounds in all samples. Thesuburban and urban sites were the most exposed withPAHs with pyrene, phenanthrene, and acenaphthene beingthe three predominant compounds in these sites. No specifictrend in terms of time was apparent for PCBs andOCPs. However, higher concentrations were detected forsome compounds in the first sampling, especially forPAHs, and this is attributed to variations in meteorologicalconditions (e.g., temperature, wind, rain) and variable inputsfrom both identified and unidentified sources