PCA and PLS methods applied to ecotoxicological data: Ecobalance project

Within a case study ‘Ecobalance’, the fate and effects of various chlorinated and non-chlorinated organic compounds and some heavy metals discharged from pulp and paper mills into water, sediment and aquatic animals were studied in a recipient area of southern Lake Saimaa, SE Finland. The main aim of the project was to find an empirical link between chemical emission parameters and ecotoxicological effects expressed in the ecosystem. As part of the \‘Ecobalance’ project, principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) methods were used to interpret the data of the lake area. The PLS method was used to estimate the lake area affected by mill effluents and to calculate the …