Polychlorinated biphenyls in Cedar Rapids soil

Extreme flooding of rivers may contribute to increased loading of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) to the Great Lakes, the Mississippi river, and other large lakes and surface waters downstream of industrial and urban areas. This study examines the fate of POPs that were mobilized during heavy flooding of the Cedar River and the small urban city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa during the summer of 2008. This study focuses polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). We hypothesize that these PCBs were mobilized by the flood water and that residues remained in the soils and sediments of the residential areas of the city. To test our hypothesis, soil samples were collected from ~200 of residential locations in the downtown Cedar Rapids area and analyzed for the three compound groups. Samples were extracted using an accelerated solvent extraction (ASE 300), and analyzed using GC/ECD, GC/MSD and GC/MS/MS.