Occurrence of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans and biphenyls pollution in sediments from the Haihe River and Dagu Drainage River in Tianjin City, China

The pollution status of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the sediments of Haihe River, which is the most polluted among the seven largest basins in China, Dagu Drainage River flowing through a chemical industry zone, and two other rivers flowing into Bohai Sea in Tianjin City, China were investigated. The concentrations of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in the sediments from the mainstream of Haihe River were 1.3–26 pg I-TEQ g−1 dry weight (dw) and 0.07–0.54 pg TEQ g−1 dw, respectively. Heavy PCDD/Fs and PCBs pollution, with 1264 pg I-TEQ g−1 dw and 21 pg TEQ g−1 dw, was found in sediment from Dagu Drainage River. The congener profiles of PCDD/Fs indicated that the principal contamination source was the production of pentachlorophenol (PCP) or PCP-Na in this area. The correlation between PCDD/Fs or PCBs and total organic matter (TOM) showed that PCDD/Fs or PCBs were independent on TOM.