ABSTRACT
The contribution of urban effluents to the total metal fluxes carried toward the sea by the St. Lawrence, a major world river, is 60% for Ag; 8-13% for Cu, Zn, Mo, Cd, and Bi; and less than 3% for all other measured elements (Al, V, Cr, Mn, Fe Co, Ni, As, Rb, Sr, Zr, Cs, Ba, W, Re, Pb, Th, U). This is inferred from measurements at the Montreal wastewater treatment plant. Except for Ag, municipal effluents do not weigh heavily on the St. Lawrence River metal budget, likely because of the physical-chemical primary treatment applied to most effluents. Compared to direct atmospheric deposition on the surface of the river, effluents would contribute half as much Pb and one-tenth as much Zn. In contrast, effluents deliver twice as much Cd and six times as much Cu as the atmosphere. Stable Pb isotope ratios (206Pb/207Pb, 206Pb/208Pb) in suspended particulate matter from the river indicate that the total Pb content in the river water is three times higher than the pristine level. The ratios of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Cd to Al in suspended particulate matter are high as compared to pre-industrial sediments, which suggeststhattrace elementfluxes are higher today. To decrease metal levels in the St. Lawrence River further will be a challenge since the sources of metals are not well-known.
Subject(s)
Metals, Heavy/analysis , Waste Disposal, Fluid , Environmental Monitoring , Particle Size , Quebec , RiversABSTRACT
A new method for quantifying C10-C13 polychloroalkanes (PCAs or chloroparaffins, CPs) in environmental samples using metastable atom bombardment ionization (MAB) and high resolution mass spectrometry is presented. Contrary to electron capture negative ionization (ECNI), MAB can produce spectra for molecules having a low number of chlorine atoms. These molecules are present in commercial PCAs and are responsible for a large fraction of the total PCA concentration in water samples analysed. Using ECNI or MAB, no molecular ion can be seen in the spectra. ECNI spectra contain important peaks corresponding to [M-Cl]- and [M-HCl]-* while the base peak in MAB spectra is [M-Cl]+ with no [M-HCl]+* present. The mass range for C10-C13 CPs is very large and scanning the masses for all the compounds involved would lead to a loss of sensitivity. Two chromatographic analysis are thus performed using high resolution selective ion monitoring with only a limited number of masses recorded per run. To reduce analysis time, a short capillary column is used. Application of this method to the analysis of high-volumes water samples (dissolved and particulates portions separately) from the St. Lawrence river near Quebec City using MAB is presented. Contribution of molecules with a low chlorine content in the samples account for between 10% and 46% to the total concentration. Congeners distribution between the different fractions indicates that molecules with a low number of carbon atoms are preferentially retained on the particulates. Within a carbon number group, there is a slight tendency to accumulate molecules with a high number of chlorine atoms in the dissolved fraction.
