Assessment of contamination by polychlorinated biphenyls and aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments of the Santos and Sao Vicente Estuary System, Sao Paulo, Brazil

摘要

The Santos and Sao Vicente Estuary System is located in Sao Paulo State, the economic center of Brazil. The environmental problems of this area are most likely the result of intensive and continuous industrial and domestic effluent discharges (Lamparelli et al., 1993). The Cubatao industrial complex is situated in the Cubatao river basin, extends towards the estuary and is one of the most important petrochemical, chemical and metallurgical industrial poles of Brazil. It is composed of 23 large factories including a steel mill, an oil refinery, fertiliser, cement and chemical/petrochemical plants that sum up to 260 pollutant emission sources (CETESB, 1999).