Cinca River

Eljarrat E, De La Cal A, Raldua D, Duran C, Barcelo D (2004) Occurrence and bioavailability of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and hexabromocyclododecane in sediment and fish from the Cinca River, a tributary of the Ebro River (Spain). Environ Sci Technol 38 2603-2608... 

Guerra P, Cal ADL, Marsh G, Eljarrat E, BarcelA D (2009) Transfer of hexabromocyclo-dodecane from industrial effluents to sediments and biota case study in Cinca river (Spain). J Hydrol 369(3 t) 360-367... 

The study area is located in the northeast of Spain, along the Cinca and Vero rivers, in the Ebro River basin (Fig. 1). Six different sampling stations were selected at the Cinca River site Cl (Puente de las Pilas) and C2 (La Boquera), 20 and 12 km, respectively, upstream from Monzon site C3, just downstream from Monzon, a heavily industrialized town with a very important chemical industry site C4 (Alcolea de Cinca), site C5 (Chalamera), and site C6 (Fraga), 27, 30, and 67 km downstream of site C3, respectively. Moreover, three sampling stations were selected at the Vero River site VI (Castillazuelo), 11 km upstream from an industrial park site V2 (Barbastro), just 1 km downstream from the industrial park, and site V3 (La Boquera), 4 km downstream of site V2. 

In order to determine the sources of contamination, some water samples, including wastewaters and effluents from different industries were also sampled. Along the Cinca River and in the industrial area of Monzon, industrial effluents from two different industries were selected the first one produced EPS (Expandable polystyrene) treated with flame retardants and ABS (Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), and the second one produced PVC (Polyvinyl chloride). As regards the Vero River, three industries were sampled the first one, a textile industry which produced polyester fibers treated with flame retardants, the second one produced epoxy... 

Table 3 Results (expressed in ng/g dw and ng/g ww for sediment and biota samples, respectively) obtained for samples collected along the Cinca river... 

Fig. 2 Length of Cinca river barbel (sites C3 and C5) vs. concentrations of HBCD in the muscle. Line is linear regression on the data...

Two industries were suspected to cause the HBCD contamination along the Cinca River the first one produced EPS treated with flame retardants and ABS, and the second one produced PVC. Analysis of industrial effluents of each industry revealed that industry which produced EPS and ABS is the responsible of the HBCD contamination, with concentration levels around 5 pg/L (Table 5). 

The first contaminated area, along the Cinca River and downstream of Monzon, reveals the covariant nature of PBDE and HBCD concentrations in the fish examined here. The amount of each contaminant is highly correlated within each fish. A likely explanation of this correlation is that the contaminants are being acquired from the same source (Cinca River). Moreover, PBDEs and HBCD are bioavailable as indicated by large fish to sediment ratios. Some correlations were found between the concentration levels of BFRs and the length and weight of specimen fishes,... 

Finally, it should be mentioned that three out of the eight Spanish chlor-alkali plants operating with the mercury process are located in the Ebro River basin in the cities of Sabinanigo and Monzon - along the tributaries Gallego and Cinca Rivers, respectively - and Flix along the Ebro River (Fig. 1). Indeed, mercury emissions from the Hix and Monzon have already been reported [28]. Therefore, the mid-low Ebro River watershed might be considered as a hot spot of aquatic pollution of mercury in Spain. 

On the other hand, the industrial activity of the other two mercury cell chlor-alkali plants have caused important Hg pollution in Sabinanigo (capacity of 25 x 103 Mg chlorine/year) and Monzon (31 x 103 Mg chlorine/year) (see Fig. 1), two small and industrial cities located in the middle course of the Gallego and Cinca Rivers, respectively, two tributaries of the Ebro River [31]. 

Fig. 3 Map with the sampling sites in the Cinca River, upstream (SI) and downstream (S2) of the chlor-alkali plant of Monzon showing THg levels. Adapted from [65]...

Raldua D, Pedrocchi C (1996) Mercury concentrations in three species of freshwater fishes from the lower Gallego and Cinca Rivers, Spain. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 57 597-602... 

A second risk zone corresponds to Monzon (17,042 inhabitants), a highly industrialized city in the middle Cinca River. Its industrial activity has caused the historical release of organic and inorganic compounds to the river coming from chlor-alkali industry, from production and utilization of solvents and organochlo-rine pesticides, and from the use of brominated flame retardants in the production processes. Very high concentrations of mercury have been recorded for sediment and fish samples in the downstream of Monzon [2-4]. 

The choice of reference sites is arguably more difficult that the picking of impacted ones, as human impact is overwhelmingly present all on the Ebro River. For Vero River, the selected reference site was located in a pristine area upstream of Barbastro (see Fig. 1). For Cinca River, the reference site was located upstream of Monzon, avoiding also the influence of the Vero River (see Fig. 1). At the Riba-roja dam (210 Hm3, www.embalses.net), upstream of Flix, Ebro River receives water from several large tributaries. This area was considered as reference for the low Ebro sites. Chemical analyses for different pollutants (see below) of sediments, fish, and shellfish collected in these areas confirmed their suitability as reference sites. 

Ormad MP, Ratia JS, Rodriguez L, Ovelleiro JL (2008) Levels and distribution of DDT in the Cinca River (Spain). Water Environ Res 80 464-471... 

Within a monitoring programme at different risk zones in this river, two highly contaminated areas were detected. The first one was located along the Cinca River, a tributary... 

PBDEs were detected in all the sediment samples collected along the Cinca River, at concentrations ranging from 2 to 131ng/g dw (Table 7.2.2). HBCD was detected only in samples collected downstream of Monzon, with levels ranging between 90 and 1613 ng/g dw. In these samples, HBCD contamination was greater than that observed for PBDEs. Site C3 was found to be the most contaminated zone, followed by site C4 > site Cl = site C2. As expected, decabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE) and HBCD levels were greater near the site of industrial impact. 

Two industries were suspected to have caused the HBCD contamination along the Cinca River the first one produced EPS treated with flame retardants and ABS, and the second one produced PVC. Analysis of industrial effluents of each industry revealed that the one which produced EPS and ABS was responsible for the HBCD contamination, with concentration levels around 5 (tg/L. Three industries were suspected to have caused the BDE-209 contamination along the Vero River the first one was a textile industry which produced polyester fibres treated with flame retardants, the second one produced epoxy resins, and the third one focused on polyamide polymerisation. Analysis of industrial effluents of each industry revealed that the industry focused on polyamide polymerisation was the main cause of the BDE-209 contamination, with concentration levels around 2600 ng/L. Nevertheless, the two other industries also contributed in some way to the total contamination. 

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