Levels and congener patterns of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in rural soils of Beijing, China

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the levels and congener distribution of PCBs in rural soils of Beijing. The results indicated that the levels of PCBs in Beijing rural soils were relatively high in comparison with their concentrations in other rural areas, but lower than those in many urban areas. The congener profiles were predominated by lowly chlorinated congeners such as Di-CBs, Tri-CBs and Tetra-CBs, which was similar to those in other areas such as Dalian and Hong Kong. The concentrations of PCB congeners weakly correlated with the physicochemical properties of the rural soils, suggesting the little effect of soil properties on concentrations of PCBs.