Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) distributions in the Bay of Marmara sea: zmit Bay

In 1999, the concentrations of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the total PAH and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured in sea water, sediment and mussels collected along the coast of zmit Bay, the most important bay of the Marmara Sea. The total-PAH concentrations, measured by Spectrofluorometry were in the range of 1.16–13.68 μg/l in sea water, in the range of 30.0–1670.0 μg/g dry weight in sediments and in the range from 5.67 to 14.81 μg/g wet weight in edible part of mussel. HPLC revealed Phenanthrene (three rings), chrysene (four rings) and benz[a]antracene (five rings) to be the dominant PAHs in sea water, while 16 different PAHs compounds were observed and measured in mussel samples. The most pollution occured at Do u Kanali and Dil Deresi where were the main rivers containing wastes fall into the the zmit Bay. Although the maximum mono-ortho PCB concentrations in sea water were measured in the Dil Deresi River (26.33 ng/l) and the Solventa (22.19 ng/l) stations, maximum PCB concentrations in mussels were measured in the SEKA (28.11 μg/kg) and the Dil Deresi River (25.68 μg/kg). The dominant congeners of PCBs were from tetra to hexachlorobiphenyls. The toxicity equivalent values were very low in sea water and mussels.