Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
9455680 | Environment International | 2005 | 11 Pages |
Abstract
The Patos Lagoon Estuary, southern Brazil, is an area of environmental interest not only because of tourism, but also because of the presence of the second major port of Brazil, with the related industrial and shipping activities. Thus, potential hydrocarbon pollution was examined in this study. Sediment samples were collected at 10 sites in the estuary, extracted, and analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS for composition and concentration of the following organic geochemical markers: normal and isoprenoid alkanes, petroleum biomarkers, linear alkylbenzenes (LABs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The total concentrations varied from 1.1 to 129.6 μg gâ1 for aliphatic hydrocarbons, from 17.8 to 4510.6 ng gâ1 for petroleum biomarkers, from 3.2 to 1601.9 ng gâ1 for LABs, and from 37.7 to 11,779.9 ng gâ1 for PAHs. Natural hydrocarbons were mainly derived from planktonic inputs due to a usual development of blooms in the estuary. Terrestrial plant wax compounds prevailed at sites located far from Rio Grande City and subject to stronger currents. Anthropogenic hydrocarbons are related to combustion/pyrolysis processes of fossil fuel, release of unburned oil products and domestic/industrial waste outfalls. Anthropogenic hydrocarbon inputs were more apparent at sites associated with industrial discharges (petroleum distributor and refinery), shipping activities (dry docking), and sewage outfalls (sewage). The overall concentrations of anthropogenic hydrocarbons revealed moderate to high hydrocarbon pollution in the study area.
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Authors
Patricia Matheus Medeiros, Márcia Caruso BÃcego, Renato Menezes Castelao, Clarissa Del Rosso, Gilberto Fillmann, Ademilson Josemar Zamboni,