Polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in soils from the southern part of Poland

Surface soil and sediment samples collected from the cities of Krakow, Kato wice, and Chorzow in 1993-94 were analyzed to determine the residual levels of persistent organochlorine pesticides (HCB, HCHs, DDTs, CHLs) and polych lorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Detection, identification, and quantification w ere made after a two-step clean-up and fractionation of sample extract with concentrated sulfuric acid and Florisil gel, followed by capillary gas chr omatography with a Ni-63 electron capture detector (GC-ECD) or a mass selec tive detector (GC-LRMS). The soil from the city of Katowice is relatively m ore polluted, mainly by PCBs but also by the other organochlorines. Both th e soil in the cities of Krakow and Katowice are more polluted by organochlo rines than soil from many other places in Poland. The residual concentratio ns of the organochlorines indicated nonexistence of the domestic sources of pollution by CHLs and elevated local contamination with PCBs. Sediment con tained PCBs and CHLs in much higher concentrations than found in soil. Tn t he case of DDTs, HCHs and HCB, the concentrations were of the same order of magnitude. Composition of DDT metabolites and of HCH isomers were investig ated in detail.