Abstract
Surface seawater was sampled from 20 stations in Youngil Bay, Korea in November 2000. The samples were analyzed for eight chlorobenzenes(CBs) out of a total of 12 in the congener series using a gas chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer detector(GC/MSD). The total CB levels varied from 1.3 to 6.1 ng/L with a mean of 4.0 ng/L. Trichlorobenzene groups (sum of 1,3,5-, 1,2,4-, and 1,2,3-trichlorobenzene) were the predominant class among the four congener groups, while tetrachlorobenzenes(sum of 1,2,3,5-, 1,2,4,5-, and 1,2,3,4- tetrachlorobenzene) and pentachlorobenzene showed a low presence. The total CB levels exhibited similar patterns for all the stations. A significant positive correlation was observed between the individual CB compounds in the particulate samples, while the dissolved samples revealed a strong correlation between the heavier molecular weight CBs.