Preliminary characterization and source assessment of PAHs in tributary sediments of the Athabasca River,Canada |
| |
Authors: | John V Headley Christine Akre F Malcolm Conly K M Peru Leslie C Dickson |
| |
Institution: | 1. National Water Research Institute, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada;2. Canadian Wildlife Services, Saskatoon, SK, S7N OX4, Canada |
| |
Abstract: | The Athabasca Oil Sands are one of four natural oil sands deposits in Northern Alberta, Canada. As a number of new mines are planned in the area, there is a need to establish background levels of natural hydrocarbon release prior to these developments. To this end, various environmental samples were taken from selected tributaries in the oil sands region of the Athabasca River Basin and analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their alkylated analogues. Samples were collected over 3 years (1998-2000) to provide an increased understanding of the spatial distribution, nature and extent of natural hydrocarbon release to the environment. Results indicated that levels of total PAHs were elevated in the tributaries (up to 34.7 µg/g) compared to the main stem Athabasca River (<2 µg/g). As expected, samples from the oil sands deposits contained the greatest amounts of PAHs and alkylated PAHs. Profiles of the alkylated PAM distributions were very similar, indicating that all the samples tested were from a common petrogenic source. |
| |
Keywords: | Pahs Alkylated Pahs Mass Spectrometry Environmental Monitoring |
|
|