LAND-BASED SOURCES OF POLLUTION ALONG THE BLACK-SEA COAST OF TURKEY -CONCENTRATIONS AND ANNUAL LOADS TO THE BLACK-SEA

Concentrations of inorganic pollutants, pesticides and PCBs were measu red in 42 sources including rivers, streams, and industrial and domest ic discharge points along the Turkish Black Sea coast in three seasons of the year 1993, The measured concentrations were compared with wate r quality standards currently effective in Turkey in order to determin e the levels of pollution in the rivers and streams, Concentrations we re also combined with the water discharge data to determine annual loa ds of pollutants discharged from each source into the Black Sea, Conce ntrations of measured parameters were much higher in domestic and indu strial discharges, as expected, Most of the rivers and streams were po lluted with organic material, nitrogen and phosphorous species due to discharges of untreated domestic wastes into these streams. Metal conc entrations measured in the rivers and streams were fairly low due to t he lack of extensive industrialization in the drainage areas of the st reams, Some of the small streams, including the Neyren, Kilimli, Zafir and Tabakhane streams, are heavily polluted and were identified as so urces having the potential to generate hot spots along the coast. annu ally, a total of 39.700 tons of nitrogen, 3.700 tons of phosphorous, 1 5 tons of Cd, 340 tons of Cu, 60 tons of Ph, 1.200 tons of Zn, 12 tons of heptachlor, 11 tons of aldrin, 31 tons of dieldrin, 180 tons of en drin and 500 tons of DDT are discharged from Turkish sources into the Black Sea. Except for trace metals, rivers and streams dominate the fl ux of pollutants, Large industries along the coast that discharge thei r wastes directly to the Black Sea account for a significant fraction of the annual metal discharges. Pesticides and PCBs were detected in m ost of the sources included in the study indicating their illegal use in agriculture. The Sakarya river was the most important source of pes ticides. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.