Determination of polychlorobiphenyl congeners (PCBs) in the surface water of the Venice lagoon

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree of PCB contamination of Venice lagoon water. The PCB determination was made on the filtrate (“dissolved PCBs”) and on the particulate collected on the filters (“particulate PCBs”) by continuous liquid–liquid extraction and sonication, respectively, and by HRGC-LRMS analysis. An estimation of the procedural and “working” blanks was also made. Water samples were collected at six sites, selected to represent all the pollution situations present in the lagoon, and at a site in the Adriatic Sea. The range of the total sum (“dissolved plus particulate”) of 49 congener concentrations falls between 355 and 1868 pg l−1; the “dissolved” fraction concentrations (250–792 pg l−1) are greater at six sites than that of the “particulate” fraction (105–1273 pg l−1). Chemometric analyses suggest that the PCB congener pattern in the Venice Lagoon is different from that in the Adriatic Sea.