Primary Study on the Distribution of Hexachlorbenzene in Fuhe River Bottom Sediment

In this paper the distribution and the pollution to the environment of Hexachlorbenzene (HCB) in sediment has been studied and evaluated, and the proposed method has been successfully applied to determine HCB in sediment samples from the outlet of wastewater of one chemical plant to the bank of Fuhe River. For the first time, HCB contaminant and total organic carbon (TOC) were measured in bottom sediment from Fuhe River downstream behind one chemical factory wastewater outlet, to estimate contaminant levels and to offer data for HCB treatment experiments. Results show that the HCB ranged from 13.9 to 1195.8 mg-kg-1 dry wt., and TOC from 2.5 to 118.4mg-g-1 dry wt. in sediments. Concentrations measured in the sediments generally reflect the level of contamination at the sampling sites. The ratio between HCB and TOC ranged from 4.95 to 10.09 mgHCB-g-1 TOC at each sample. These results underscore the need to improved environmental protection measures in order to reduce the exposure of the population to this persistent and bio-accumulative compound through food ingestion.