Inventory of the Industrial Units that are using Dangerous Substances in Cyprus
Presented in 6th International symposium on Advanced Environmental Monitoring
Abstract
The presence of pesticides in the aquatic system as a result of their common use, persistence in the environment and toxicity, is one of the main hazards to life and health. This paper provides an overview of the methodology followed and the results obtained through an initial study the aim of which was to investigate the potential pollution sources in relation to such substances and heavy metals in Cyprus. This was performed in the framework of the implementation of the EU Directives 76/464/EEC and 80/68/EEC related to industrial emission of dangerous substances in water bodies in Cyprus. This paper illustrates the use of liquid liquid extraction (LLE) for the extraction of selected pesticides from wastewaters in Cyprus, the application of gas chromatography equipped with two different detectors (FTD and ECD) for the determination and quantification of these compounds and finally the use of an ICP for the evaluation of the concentrations of a number of heavy metals. The values of the seasonal mean concentrations detected in the samples, taken from the industrial units between June 2005 and June 2006, show that almost all organic compounds that were examined have been identified in at least one of the wastewater streams but in very low concentrations. In general, the results showed that the samples and the particular industries examined do not have effluents with high concentrations of heavy metals. Only in a few cases non-compliance with the regulatory limits was observed.