Occurrence and fate of endocrine disrupting chemicals and other hydrophobic organic compounds in a tropical river in Kenya

This thesis explores the application of passive sampling as a novel monitoring technique capable of quantifying aquatic pollutants at low environmental concentrations, and in a form that is directly applicable to risk assessment. Two passive samplers, namely polyethersulfone (PES) and silicone rubber (SR), were used to monitor some endocrine disruptors (EDCs) and hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOCs) in freshwater and sediments of a tropical river in Kenya. PES was applied for the first time for time-integrative sampling of these compound classes and was able to quantify the target compounds at low concentrations that were not significantly different to those obtained using the well-established SR, despite differences in uptake mechanisms with both sampler materials. This study demonstrated that passive samplers are versatile tools that can be applied in remote locations, and with proper storage, they can be transported and analyzed far afield.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

TU Bergakademie Freiberg

Year

2017

Author dc:creator

• Chepchirchir, Bilha

Contributors dc:contributor

• Schüürmann, Gerrit
• Ebinghaus, Ralf

• Passive sampling
• Silicone rubber
• Polyethersulfone
• Tropical river
• Kenya
• Passivsammler
• Silicone
• tropischer Fluss
• Kenia