Assessment of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in surface sediments of the Inner Clyde Estuary, UK

摘要

The Clyde Estuary and its tributaries have been an important reservoir for contaminated waste from a succession of industries located in the conurbation of Glasgow during the 19th and 20th centuries. Subsurface coal mining, shipbuilding, textile and paper as well as engineering industries have all had a significant environmental impact on sediment quality within the urban area of Glasgow (Edgar et al., 1999, 2003; Hume, 1974). Although heavy industry on the banks of the River Clyde declined from the 1950s to 1970s, Glasgow remains a thriving city with much of the infrastructure necessary to maintain a modern mixed economy such as power stations, oil refineries, landfill sites and sewage works located in close proximity to the River Clyde and tributaries. The aim of this study was to determine individual concentrations of parent polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in surface sediments of the Inner Clyde Estuary.