Occurrence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the sea anemone Bunodosoma zamponii, sediments and seawater from the southwestern Atlantic

VAZQUEZ NICOLAS; CHIERICHETTI MELISA; ACUÑA FABIAN; MIGLIORANZA KARINA SILVIA BEATRIZ

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH

SPRINGER HEIDELBERG

Año: 2022

0944-1344

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent and bioaccumulable organic compounds. The occurrence of PCBs wasassessed in two populations of the intertidal sea anemone Bunodosoma zamponii living under diferent anthropogenicstrains. One location was in vicinity to a wastewater plant (Las Delicias, LD), and the other was a preserved location chosenas a reference site (Punta Cantera, PC). Anemone populations were sampled 4 times (spring, summer, autumn and winter)throughout a year, in addition to seawater and sediment from those areas. PCB loadings ranged from 2.89 to 79.41 ng L-1 inseawater samples and from 0.07 to 6.61 ng g-1 dry weight in sediment samples. Total PCB levels ranged from 0.22 to 14.94and 2.79 to 24.69 ng g-1 wet weight in anemones from PC and LD, respectively. PCBs concentrations in anemones from LDwere signifcantly greater than PC during spring, summer and winter. The congeners 18 and 44 prevailed in seawater samples, 44 and 52 in sediment and 18 and 132+153 in anemones. Redundancy analysis integrated PCB levels from all matrixesand bolstered contrast between sampling sites. Seasonality was also a relevant factor since during winter PCB loading wasgreater in sediment and anemone samples, coincident with the rainiest season. Disparity between sites could be due to LD?sproximity to the wastewater plant, efect of littoral drift direction and/or asymmetries in anemones physiological condition.