Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Contamination of the environmental compartments by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is mater of great concern. Strážske area in East Slovakia is known as one of the largest contaminated areas by polychlorinated biphenyls in Europe. The objective of this work is to investigate the distribution of 12 dioxin – like PCB congeners, in accordance of World Health Organization in water and sediment samples, to determine the most abundant congeners and to define Toxic Equivalency Factors (TEF) and Toxic Equivalent Concentrations (TEQ). The most abundant PCB congeners in sediments were PCB 123 2.1 mg.kg^-1 and PCB 126 1.4 mg.kg^-1, in surface water PCB 126 28.4 ng.l^-1 and PCB 167 27.11 ng.l^-1. Total TEQ for the most polluted sediment was 41958 pg.g^-1 and for surface water 2.86 ng.l^-1. The standard TEF values of World Health Organisation for sediments and soils are 0.00003 mg.kg^-1 (PCB 123), 0.1 mg.kg^-1 (PCB 126). A guideline of TEF for measured PCB in surface water is 0.0001 ng.l^-1 (PCB 126). Is it possible to consider these values as aim for site cleaning. This study indicates recommendation for next analyses in more places, especially considering the sediments samples. TEQ values can be used as relative measures between different abiotic samples, e.g. sediment and soil, to prioritize remedial actions.