The content of dioxins and furans in soils, bottom sediments of water bodies, and tissues of small mammals near the landfill site with municipal solid wastes (Moscow, Russia)

Abstract

For the first time, the levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were characterized in the tissues of wild small mammals living in contaminated sites near a municipal solid waste landfill (Moscow, Russia). The Ural field mice Sylvaemus uralensis, the bank voles Clethrionomys glareolus, and the common shrews Sorex araneus were trapped at 1- and 5-km distances from the landfield "Salariyevo." High-resolution chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to measure the levels of 17 PCDD/Fs congeners in the animal organisms and natural objects (soils, bottom sediments). The values of the total toxic equivalencies (WHO-TEQ₀₅) for animals were many times higher than those for soils and bottom sediments. The octo-substituted congeners dominated in the samples from the habitat, whereas the highly toxic 2,3,7,8-substituted ones — in the mammalian tissues. The levels of WHO-TEQ₀₅ were comparable in the soil samples collected at 1- and 5-km distances from the dump body. The levels of WHO-TEQ₀₅ in tissues of mammals caught 1 km from the dump were much higher than those of the distant territory inhabitants. The maximum WHO-TEQ₀₅ levels were found in the shrews, and this has been considered in terms of nutrition characteristics. The data obtained will be used to assess the risks of chronic exposure to low doses of PCDD/Fs contaminating the environment near landfills.