PHTHALATE-ESTERS IN FRESH-WATERS AS MARKERS OF CONTAMINATION SOURCES - A SITE STUDY IN ITALY

A sampling campaign for the determination of phthalate acid esters (PA Es) levels in freshwaters and sediments of rivers and lakes of the Rie ti District (central Italy) was carried out in 1994. Sixty-six water s amples, collected in three series, and thirteen sediment samples were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS). The analytic al results on water samples showed a direct relation of PAEs levels wi th the input of urban or industrial treated wastewaters near the sampl ing point. Because of their tendency to be adsorbed on sediments, the presence of PAEs was limited to within a few kilometers of the source of contamination. Accumulation factors in sediment samples, in fact, r anged from 10 to 100. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.