Supplementary data for PCBs and OCPs in surface-mixed layer water and sediment from Lagos lagoon

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are persistent environmental contaminants that continue to pose significant risks to human health and our ecological environment. These contaminants are regulated by the Stockholm Convention of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), and are included on the OSPAR List of Chemicals for Priority Action owing to their persistence, propensity to bioaccumulate, and toxicity. Here we provide a baseline dataset on the pollution levels of PCBs and OCPs in intertidal sediment and surface-mixed layer water samples obtained from Lagos lagoon, Nigeria, off the Gulf of Guinea. The dataset is expected to have multiple applications in future scientific investigations, including environmental monitoring as well as estimation and risk assessment of hydrophobic organic micropollutant’s toxicity. The different isomeric diagnostic ratios involving OCPs and PCB congeners allow for characterising the contamination sources in the lagoonal ecosystem. The class distribution of PCB homologue profiles in sediment and water samples allows for establishing dominant homologues for the target congeners. The comprehensive assessment of organic micropollutants in the Lagos lagoon through multi-location sampling and analysis of OCPs and PCBs is considered the most effective monitoring survey. This approach allows for the evaluation of ecological and health concerns associated with exposures at the organism level.