| Polychlorinated diphenyl ethers (PCDEs) are impurities in technical chlorophenol mixtures, are used as dielectric fluids in capacitors and as herbicides, antiseptics, food preservatives, and papers and textiles, and can be formed through the chlorination of organics in water and wastewater streams. Samples from semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs), sediments, English sole, mussels, and Dungeness crab were collected from urban/industrial and remote sites along the marine coast of British Columbia and analyzed by congener-specific GC-MS analysis for mono- through deca-substituted PCDEs. Higher concentrations in biota and sediments were observed near urban/industrial areas, with evidence for food-chain biomagnification within major harbours. Correlations... |
