Ecotoxicological Risk Assessment of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in Bank Sediments from along the Yamuna River in Delhi, India

The River Yamuna originates from the Yamunotri glacier of the Himalayas and travels 22km in the Delhi region. The river is used for various purposes in Delhi including drinking water supply. Twenty-eight polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) congeners were measured in bank sediments along the river, and their ecotoxicological risk was evaluated. Concentrations of Sigma 28PCBs varied from 0.20-21.16ng g(-1) (dry wt.) with mean and median values of 6.63ng g(-1) and 5.84ng g(-1) (+/- 0.69ng g(-1)), respectively. The concentration of 12 dl-PCBs concentrations varied from 0.04-2.86ng g(-1) with a mean of 1.04 +/- 0.11ng g(-1), and their toxic equivalency ranged between <0.01-28.67 pg WHO-TEQ g(-1) with a mean of 10.77 +/- 1.06 pg WHO-TEQ g(-1). CB-37, CB-44, CB-114, and CB-118 congeners were dominant among all PCBs congeners. The tri-PCBs (49%) were the main contributors to the PCB homolog followed by tetra-PCBs (35%), and penta-PCB (14%). Because there are no environmental guidelines in India for PCBs in river and marine sediments, concentrations of PCBs and their toxic equivalents were compared in a screening-level assessment with established freshwater sediment quality guidelines and found lower than those guideline values, which suggests no adverse ecotoxicological effect.