Accumulation of Micropollutants in Aqueous Media and Sediment, A Risk Assessment for Konya Main Drainage Channel, Turkey

Human activities increase types and numbers of synthetic pollutants and their byproducts in the course of time. Synthetic Organic Chemicals (SOCs), so called micropollutants, present in very low concentrations in aquatic ecosystem, but likely accumulate in animal and human tissues and cells because of fat solubility. These persistent micropollutants have toxic effects in very low concentrations and resistant to biodegradation. SOCs can be adsorbed to sediments in surface water sources, so sediments have an important role in the accumulation of water contaminants. In the course of time, sediments become source of new contamination for aqueous media. In this study, it is aimed to determine concentration of two groups of SOCs; organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and organophosphorous pesticides (OPPs) in wastewater, surface sediment and excavated sediment samples taken from Konya Main Drainage Channel (MDC) which takes the effluents of Konya Wastewater Treatment Plant and transports the treated wastewater to Salt Lake.