Search for chlorobornanes in river sediments and in influents and effluents

In 1997, we collected nine river sediment samples, including one duplicate, from above and below three pulp and paper mills on the Wisconsin River in Wisconsin, USA, and one mill on Beaver Dam Creek in Ontario, Canada. We als o obtained twenty split sediment samples from the Wisconsin River that were collected by the US EPA in collaboration with Indiana University. Finally, we collected influent and effluent samples from eight pulp and paper relat ed industries in the US and Canada. We analyzed all sediment and water samp les for hexa- through decachlorobornanes. We did not detect any chloroborna nes in most of the sediments. When chlorobornanes were detected, the concen tration in sediments below pulp mills were similar to or less than in those from above the same mills. Chlorobornanes could not be detected in any of the influent or effluent samples. Thus, pulp and paper mills and relate fac ilities are not a source of chlorobornanes. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.