Organochlorine Pollutants in Components of the Black Sea Coastal Areas Ecosystem of Crimea from 2010 to 2022

Abstract—

From 2010 to 2022, the summed concentrations of six indicator polychlorinated biphenyls (∑6PCB) and DDT with metabolites DDE and DDD (∑DDT) in the surface layer of the coastal Black Sea areas of Crimea varied from 0.05 to 34.9 and from 0.01 to 7.44 ng/L, respectively. The maximum concentrations of both groups of compounds were found during spring seasons. With the total variability in the ∑DDT content in water being significant, their average concentration tended to decrease in the study period. For PCBs, this trend was not detected. The ∑DDT concentration in mesozooplankton in the studied water areas in 2016, 2017, and 2019 reached 34.3; ∑6PCB, 475 ng/g dry weight. A positive correlation between the ∑DDT concentration in mesozooplankton and water samples (R ² = 0.77) and the lack of such correlation for ∑PCB (R ² = 0.03) was revealed. It was determined that the accumulation of ∑PCB and ∑DDT in mesozooplankton was directly correlated with the total lipid content in organisms. In the surface layer of sediments in open areas of the Black Sea water area of Crimea, the content of PCB congeners 101, 138, 153, and 180 was the same in 2016 and 2019, which indicates stabilization of the technogenic load on the studied water areas.