Identification of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Shkodra Lake Water using Bottle Sampling and Passive Sampling Technology

Abstract

Application of the comparative methods for monitoring of organic pollutants in the aquatic environment is of increasing interest. The deployment of semi-permeable membrane devices passive samplers was undertaken in Shkodra/Skadar Lake, which is the largest lake in the Balkans region. Its surface is 368 km², from which 149 km² are included in Albanian territory and the other part belongs to Montenegro. The aim of present study is a preliminary assessment of readily bio-available hydrophobic organic pollutants (HOP) as polychlorinated biphenyl in the lake, using semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and bottle sampling. The analytical results showed the presence of polychlorinated biphenyl in semi-permeable membrane device sampler. In the bottle samples the most of measurements were below the detection limit (LODs). The identification and monitoring of hydrophobic organic pollutants in Shkodra/Skadar Lake remains an important issue for the future environmental investigations, which are necessary for this important economic and touristic area.