Keywords: 
• water source area of Taihu River Basin /
• polychlorinated biphenyls /
• pollution level /
• distribution characteristics

Abstract: In order to systematically investigate the pollution status of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in major water source area of Taihu River Basin, water samples, suspended particulate matter and sediment samples were collected in March 2012 and June 2012, respectively. Then samples were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to investigate the concentration of PCBs. The results showed that, in March, there were no PCBs in water, suspended particulate matter and sediment. In June, the concentration of PCBs in the aqueous phase was between ND and 1.04 ng·L^-1, with an average of 0.57 ng·L^-1. The concentration of PCBs in suspended particles and sediments was between 0.96 to 2.72 ng·g^-1 and 0.47 to 1.29 ng·g^-1, respectively. Aroclor 1016 and Aroclor 1260 were detected in all kinds of medium, and the concentrations of Aroclor 1016 were the highest. Compared with the domestic and foreign researches, the pollution level of PCBs was lower in water source area of Taihu River Basin. The concentration of PCBs in the water phase was lower than environmental quality standards for surface water in China. The concentration of PCBs in suspended particulate matter and sediments were lower than the LEL value of risk assessment criteria for aquatic chemicals in Canada, which indicates PCBs has no toxic effect on benthic animals at each sampling site.