Fast preparation of the seawater accommodated fraction of heavy fuel oil by sonication

The seawater accommodated fraction (SWAF) of oil is widely used for the assessment of its toxicity. However, its preparation in the laboratory is time consuming, and results from different authors are difficult to compare as preparation methods vary. Here we describe a simple and fast set up, using sonication, to produce reproducible SWAF in the laboratory. The system was tested on heavy fuel oil placed on seawater at different salinity and temperature conditions. Maximum dissolution of the oil was achieved after 24 h, independently of both seawater salinity and temperature. Our findings are discussed in relation to the fate of the oil from the deep spill of the Prestige tanker. Changes in temperature in the open ocean are bound to have larger impact in the concentration of the SWAF than the corresponding values of sea water salinity. We anticipate that in this type of incident the highest SWAF, as the oil reaches the sea surface, should be expected in the warmest and less saline waters of the water column.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ash: determination of total and leachable concentrations

Before wood ash can be used as a soil fertilizer, concentrations of environmentally hazardous compounds must be investigated. In this study, total and leachable concentrations of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in four ash samples and one green liquor sludge. The ash sample with the highest carbon content also contained high levels of PAHs; three of the ash samples had total concentrations exceeding the limit permitted by the Swedish Forest Agency for recycling to forest soils. The leachable concentrations were higher for the non-stabilized samples; this was probably due to colloid-facilitated transport of the contaminants in these samples. However, the leachable concentrations were overall relatively low in all the samples studied. The amounts of PAHs introduced to forest soils by additions of stabilized, recyclable ash products will be determined primarily by the rate of weathering of the ash particles and the total concentration of contaminants.     

Brazilian Oil Spills Chemical Characterization--Case Studies

In the last decade, PETROBRAS has experienced some significant oil spills cases and the PETROBRAS Research Center has played an important role in the company emergency response program by characterizing the spilled oil, monitoring the affected ecosystem, determining the fate of the oil in the environment, and, subsequently, helping the company in assessing the environmental damage. This paper presents the use of advanced chemical analytical techniques (GC/FID, P&T/GC/PID and GC/MS) in some Brazilian oil spill studies in order to determine fractions and individual petroleum hydrocarbons in different matrices such as water, groundwater, sediment, sand, fish and the spilled oil itself. The spill studies encompassed crude and fuel oil releases on land and coastal ecosystems, related to the incidents in Guanabara Bay (Rio de Janeiro), Barigui and Iguassu Rivers (Parana) and Sao Sebastiao Channel (Sao Paulo). Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), n -alkanes, isoprenoids, unresolved complex mixtures (UCM), volatile monoaromatic compounds--benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX), parent and alkylated homologues polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and terpanes and steranes were characterized for determining correlation to the spilled oil and other known oil sources and environmental assessment. Some of the acute ecotoxicity data for water and sediment samples is also presented.     

Estimating chemical biotransformation rates from food web concentrations

Biotransformation is widely recognized as the most important and most uncertain determinant of bioaccumulation. A step-wise method for estimating organism-specific biotransformation half-lives from field observations and using established food web modeling is developed. As a proof of concept, the method is applied to the case of nine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a well-studied food web in Bohai Bay, China. The estimated half-lives are in good agreement with the existing literature. The proposed biotransformation estimation method, through data mining, for sufficiently defined ecosystems, may greatly reduce the necessary animal testing involved in chemical assessments by providing useful guidance to experimentalists and regulators.     

Bioaccumulation and metabolisation of (14)C-pyrene by the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas exposed via seawater

The first objective of this study was to determine the bioaccumulation kinetics of pyrene in the soft tissues of Crassostrea gigas (mantle, muscle, gills, digestive gland, and the remaining soft tissues). As bivalves can biotransform hydrocarbons in more polar compounds (metabolites) that are more easily excreted, the second objective was to investigate the oyster capacity to metabolize pyrene into its metabolite, the 1-hydroxypyrene. To these ends, oysters were exposed 24 h to waterborne ¹⁴C-pyrene then placed in depuration conditions for 15 d. Oysters efficiently bioaccumulated pyrene in their soft tissues and equilibrium was reached within the exposure time. The metabolite1-hydroxypyrene was also detected in oyster tissues but represented only 4-14% of the parent pyrene. At the end of the exposure period, the gills and the mantle showed the highest pyrene proportion of total soft tissue content, i.e. 47% and 26%, respectively. After 15 d of depuration, the mantle contained 32% and 30% of the remaining pyrene and 1-hydroxypyrene, respectively. As C. gigas did not display a high capacity for metabolizing pyrene, it can be considered as a good bioindicator species to survey and monitor pyrene contamination in the coastal marine environment.     

PM(10)-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: biological indicators, lung cancer risk of realistic receptors and 'source-exposure-effect relationship' under different source scenarios

Cancer has become a critical health issue in the world heritage city Kandy, Sri Lanka. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), one of persistent organic pollutants, in the atmosphere may be a major etiological factor in lung carcinogenicity. Over the very high concentrations of ambient air PAHs reported in Kandy, this paper is focused on setting priorities to control human exposure to PAHs in prevention of cancer.On re-appraisal of the classical indicator benzo(a)pyrene (B[a]P) for atmospheric PAHs-related carcinogenicity, B[a]P failed to reflect the toxicity completely and may not be the sole indicator for risk assessment studies in complex multi-sourced urban environments. The excess lifetime lung cancer risks of atmospheric PAHs with ‘less than lifetime exposure’ were assessed based on both ‘B[a]P toxic equivalents’ and ‘B[a]P surrogate epidemiological’ approach of risk quantification, over emissions characterized urban, suburban, and rural areas of Kandy. In urban heavy traffic areas, PAH-related additional cancer burden has been 942 million⁻¹ over 30 y of exposure. Over the whole study area, ∑p-PAHs show strong correlation (r = 0.8) to the predicted risk levels. While the urban and suburban predicted cancer risk levels could not show significant correlation to their emission sources indicating the real complexity in mega urban environments, the rural lung cancer risk levels correlated perfectly with the source, firewood combustion.Policy decisions on environment and health could be based on established correlations among ‘emission sources-exposures-health effects’. The priority for “analysis of options and policy formulation to reduce inhalation PAHs exposure of population in Kandy” was considered “moderate to high”.     

蜂窝煤燃烧烟气中多环芳烃的定量研究及粒径分布特征

通过对蜂窝煤燃烧排放的烟气中多环芳烃的定量分析,研究了17种多环芳烃在烟气颗粒相和气相中的分配以及在不同粒径颗粒物上的分布特征。结果表明：在室温下燃煤排放的多环芳烃总量以在气相中存在为主,但总体毒性则主要存在于颗粒相中;多环芳烃主要分布在亚微米级颗粒上,分子量越大的多环芳烃越趋于富集在细颗粒上,因而对健康的危害就越大。     

莱芜大气污染源排放颗粒物中多环芳烃研究

为了解莱芜市大气污染源排放颗粒物中多环芳烃的浓度及影响因素,采集机动车尾气尘、扬尘、工业燃煤颗粒物、民用燃煤颗粒物等4种样品,分别测定多环芳烃的含量。结果表明,莱芜市大气环境颗粒物中多环芳烃主要来源于机动车尾气和民用燃煤,12种多环芳烃类值分别为(1 536. 48±0. 78)和(299. 83±0. 30)μg/g,机动车尾气尘与扬尘、民用燃煤、工业燃煤多环芳烃均存在显著性差异。不同组分中,苯并(ghi)苝的值最高,为(559. 96±7. 59)μg/g,其次为晕苯,为(445. 36±5. 94)μg/g,城市空气污染呈现煤烟和机动车尾气复合污染的特点。     

Receptor modeling for source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban atmosphere

This study reports source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in particulate depositions on vegetation foliages near highway in the urban environment of Lucknow city (India) using the principal components analysis/absolute principal components scores (PCA/APCS) receptor modeling approach. The multivariate method enables identification of major PAHs sources along with their quantitative contributions with respect to individual PAH. The PCA identified three major sources of PAHs viz. combustion, vehicular emissions, and diesel based activities. The PCA/APCS receptor modeling approach revealed that the combustion sources (natural gas, wood, coal/coke, biomass) contributed 19–97% of various PAHs, vehicular emissions 0–70%, diesel based sources 0–81% and other miscellaneous sources 0–20% of different PAHs. The contributions of major pyrolytic and petrogenic sources to the total PAHs were 56 and 42%, respectively. Further, the combustion related sources contribute major fraction of the carcinogenic PAHs in the study area. High correlation coefficient (R ² > 0.75 for most PAHs) between the measured and predicted concentrations of PAHs suggests for the applicability of the PCA/APCS receptor modeling approach for estimation of source contribution to the PAHs in particulates.     

典型区域土壤中多环芳烃的污染分布特征

以河南省3类典型工业区域为例,分析研究其土壤中多环芳烃类化合物的种类组成及含量分布特征,结果表明：3类典型工业区域周边土壤中均检出14种PAHs,其中萘、芘、艹屈 、苯并[a]蒽具有较高的检出水平;大型化工企业周边土壤中PAHs的检出率高于油田和工业园区;检出的14种PAHs的总质量比均值,大型化工企业明显高于油田和工业园区;3类典型工业区域土壤中PAHs测定值明显高于背景值,表明土壤已受到PAHs的影响;来源分析表明,PAHs的污染主要源自石油和燃料的燃烧.