Sediment-associated aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in coastal British Columbia, Canada: concentrations, composition, and associated risks to protected sea otters |
| |
Authors: | Harris Kate A Yunker Mark B Dangerfield Neil Ross Peter S |
| |
Institution: | a Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Institute of Ocean Sciences, P.O. Box 6000, Sidney BC V8L 4B2, Canada b University of Victoria, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, P.O. Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria BC V8W 2Y2, Canada c 7137 Wallace Dr., Brentwood Bay, BC V8M 1G9, Canada |
| |
Abstract: | Sediment-associated hydrocarbons can pose a risk to wildlife that rely on benthic marine food webs. We measured hydrocarbons in sediments from the habitat of protected sea otters in coastal British Columbia, Canada. Alkane concentrations were dominated by higher odd-chain n-alkanes at all sites, indicating terrestrial plant inputs. While remote sites were dominated by petrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), small harbour sites within sea otter habitat and sites from an urban reference area reflected weathered petroleum and biomass and fossil fuel combustion. The partitioning of hydrocarbons between sediments and adjacent food webs provides an important exposure route for sea otters, as they consume ∼25% of their body weight per day in benthic invertebrates. Thus, exceedences of PAH sediment quality guidelines designed to protect aquatic biota at 20% of the sites in sea otter habitat suggest that sea otters are vulnerable to hydrocarbon contamination even in the absence of catastrophic oil spills. |
| |
Keywords: | Sediment Hydrocarbons PAH Alkane Sea otter |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|