PCB SOURCE AND NATURAL ALTERATION PATTERNS IN SEDIMENTS OF LAKE HARTWELL AND TWELVE-MILE CREEK, SOUTH CAROLINA

摘要

In this study we present receptor-modeling results from an investigation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sediments of Lake Hartwell and Twelve-mile Creek, Pickens County, South Carolina. This site has been the focus of a USEPA research program to address the natural recovery of PCB contamination in sediments impacted by the Sangamo-Weston/Lake Hartwell Superfund Site. In 2000 and 2001, 177 sediment samples were collected from cores and surface grab samples (Battelle - Columbus, OH). Congener specific PCB analyses were conducted using high-resolution gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and 107 PCB peaks were quantified. The receptor modeling method polytopic vector analysis (PVA) was used to resolve contributing PCB fingerprint patterns, and their relative contributions in the sediments. Four contributing PCB patterns were resolved: (1) a devolatilized Aroclor1242/Aroclor 1254 pattern was resolved; (2) a relatively unaltered Aroclor 1242; (3) a dechlorination pattern consistent a what has been called Process C; and (4) a second dechlorination pattern consistent with what has been called Process H’.