Chlorobenzenes Contamination in Soils/Sediments at a Site of Decommissioned Plant in Central China

Abstract

China is one of the most important producers and suppliers of the chlorobenzenes (CBs), accounting for more than 50% of the world production. Although CBs contamination at the sites of chemical production factories is well-known, the knowledge on spatial distribution and contaminated degree of CBs are still limited. To better understand the occurrence of CBs, a total of 161 soil/sediment samples were collected from 36 sampling points within a 20 m deep from a site of decommissioned chlorobenzenes-producing factory in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China. The results showed that monochlorobenzene (MCB) is the predominant contaminants with the ΣCBs levels ranging from 0.05 to 8 600 mg/kg dry weight (dw) with a mean value of 384 mg/kg dw. The vertical distribution of CBs indicated that CBs may have clearly transported to deeper sections in the subsurface. Statistical analyses showed that there are no good correlations between the ΣCBs concentration with soil organic matter (SOM) content and the moisture content.

Keywords

chlorobenzenes / contamination / soil / chemical factory / China

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