Larsen, M.M., Hjorth, M. & Sortkjær, O. 2010: Screening for chloroalkanes in sediment. Relevance to NOVANA. National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University, Denmark. 22 pp. - NERI Technical Report No. 782.
Chloroalkanes are a group of chlorinated compounds with approx. 7000 isomer forms, and in this screening the sum of small (SCCP, 10-13 carbon atoms) and middle-sized (MCCP, 13-16 carbon atoms) chloroalkanes have been determined in 10 marine and 10 lake sediments. SCCP is listed in the Water Framework Directive as potentially bio-accumulative. Little is known about the level in the Danish environment. This screening shall establish whether there is a potential problem in the Danish area and give a basis for assessing, if SCCP should be included in the Danish national monitoring programme.
On the basis of ICES recommendations for performing screening surveys, chloroalkanes were analysed in 20 sediment samples from freshwater and marine areas, and the same concentration levels were found in freshwater and marine sediments. The levels were low or at the same level as foreign investigations, and from this screening survey nothing indicates that chloroalkanes are a threat to the environmental conditions in Danish marine areas and lakes.
The concentration levels of SCCP have been assessed as 20 times lower than the predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) for sediment and 5 times lower than the quality standard (QS) for sediment put forward by the EU 2005 final factsheet. Compared to Norwegian environmental target values for chloroalkanes in sediment, levels were 25 times below the limit between moderately and markedly polluted (class II and III). Foreign investigations have shown correlations between chloroalkanes and organic or PCB content of the sediments, but this was not found for the Danish samples. Hence it is not possible to make optimised selection of sampling sites from existing determinations of organic content or PCBs in sediment, as suggested in the ICES recommendation.
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