Chemometrical investigation of the presence and distribution of organochlorine and polyaromatic compounds in sediments of the Ebro River Basin

A multivariate statistical data analysis, using principal component analysis, of historical data from 1996 to 2003 concerning the concentration of different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorine compounds in sediment samples from different sampling sites of the Ebro River Basin was performed under the UE funded project AQUATERRA. Three major contamination sources were identified and their composition and distribution profiles were resolved. The first contamination profile was mostly loaded by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the second contamination profile was loaded by some organochlorine compounds and the third contamination profile was more specifically loaded by naphthalene. Samples from the different geographical regions of the Ebro River Basin were grouped according to the contamination described by these three major profiles.