Abstract
POLYCHLOROBIPHENYL (PCB) concentrations in North Atlantic surface waters have declined fortyfold since 1972, following the cessation of certain industrial uses of those compounds. Industrial sales of PCB for use in products which would allow leakage to the environment, for example in plastics, inks and paints were stopped in the United States and Sweden during 1970–711; and in 1972–73 other European countries and Japan initiated a similar action2. In 1971 and 1972 average surface concentrations of PCB in the open North Atlantic Ocean were about 30 ng l−1 (ref. 3 and C. E. Olney and J. J. Quinn, unpublished). By April of 1973 the concentration in the Sargasso Sea had been reduced to 1 ng l−1 (ref. 4); five months later we found that the decline had levelled at 0.8 ng l−1, a concentration which was still present in February 1974 in the north-west Atlantic. The accumulated data are presented in Table 1. These observations revealing a reduction in surface water concentrations of PCB compare well with our February 1974 measurements of a tenfold decrease of PCB in the atmosphere over the north-west Atlantic since 1973 (ref. 5), and a fivefold decrease since 1972 in the PCB content of mixed plankton collected along 09°N latitude in September of 1973 (ref. 6).
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chem. Engng. News, July 20, 31 (1970).
O.E.C.D., Press Release, Paris, February 1, 1973.
Harvey, G. R., Steinhauer, W. G., and Teal, J. M., Science, 180, 643–644 (1973).
Bidleman, T. F., and Olney, C. E., Science, 183, 516–518 (1974).
Harvey, G. R., and Steinhauer, W. G., Atmos. Environ., 8, 777–782 (1974).
Harvey, G. R., Miklas, H. P., Bowen, V. T., and Steinhauer, W. G., J. Mar. Res., 32, 103–118 (1974).
Bowen, V. T., Noshkin, V. E., Volchok, H. L., and Sugihara, T. T., Science, 164, 825–287 (1969).
Noshkin, V. E., and Bowen, V. T., in Radioactive Contamination of the Marine Environment, 671–686 (IAEA, Vienna, 1973).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
HARVEY, G., STEINHAVER, W. & MIKLAS, H. Decline of PCB concentrations in North Atlantic surface water. Nature 252, 387–388 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/252387a0
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/252387a0
This article is cited by
-
Comparison of PoraPak Rxn RP and XAD-2 adsorbents for monitoring dissolved hydrophobic organic contaminants
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (2014)
-
Distribution, behavior and fate of PCBs in the marine environment
Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan (1985)
-
Vertical transport and residence time of chlorinated hydrocarbons in the open ocean water column
Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan (1983)
-
Global distribution and atmospheric transport of chlorinated hydrocarbons: HCH (BHC) isomers and DDT compounds in the Western Pacific, Eastern Indian and Antarctic Oceans
Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan (1982)
-
Chlorinated hydrocarbons in the North Pacific and Indian Oceans
Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan (1980)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.