Concentrations and Sources of Aliphatic and Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Babolsar Coastal Sediments in the Caspian Sea

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

1 School of Environment, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 School of Engineering, Ulster University, Shore road, Newtownabbey, UK

Abstract

This paper presents concentrations and sources of Aliphatic and Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the sediments from Babolsar coastal area and the inlet of Babolrood River in the southern side of the Caspian Sea. The concentration of hydrocarbons in 13 sediment samples from the study area were measured by gas chromatography (GC). Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations in sediment samples in the coastal area ranged from 115 to 201 μg/g. In the inlet samples, TPH concentrations were close to each other and ranged from 294 to 367 μg/g. The TPH results showed moderate level of oil pollution in the study area. Total Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (ΣPAHs) concentrations in sediment samples inside the inlet ranged from 498 to 702 ng/g, indicating moderate level of pollution. Concentrations of ΣPAHs in sediment samples in the coastal area ranged from 341 to 1703 ng/g, indicating moderate to less than significant level of pollution. Developed indices for pollutant origins showed that hydrocarbons in all sediment samples collected in the study area had petrogenic origin. The results also showed the Babolrood River as the main source of oil pollution in the sediments in the study area.

Keywords


Abdel-Shafy, H.I. and Mansour, M.S.M. (2016). A review on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Source, environmental impact, effect on human health and remediation. Egypt. J. Pet, 25(1), 107-123.
Abilov, F.A., Orudjev, A.G. and Lange, R. (1999). Optimization of oil containing wastewater treatment processes. Desalination 124, 225–229.
Azimi, R., Riyahi, A., Mortazavi, S. and Savabieasfahani, M. (2014). Sediment PAH: Contrasting levels in the Caspian Sea and Anzali Wetland. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 84(1–2), 391-400
Banger, K., Toor, G.S., Chirenje, T. and Ma, L. (2010). Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Urban Soils of Different Land Uses in Miami, Florida. Soil Sediment Contam., 19(2), 231-243.
Baumard, P., Budzinski, H. and Garrigues, P. (1998). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments and mussels of the Western Mediterranean Sea. Environ. Toxicol. Chem.,17, 765–776.
Clark, R.B. (2001). Marine Pollution, 5th edition. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK)
Clark, R.C. and Finley, J.S. (1973). Techniques for analysis of paraffin hydrocarbons and for interpretation of data to assess oil spill effects in aquatic organisms (Paper presented at the Joint Conference on Prevention and Control of Oil Spills, American Petroleum Institute, Washington, DC.)
Commendatore, M.G. and Esteves, J.L. (2007). An Assessment of Oil Pollution in the Coastal Zone of Patagonia, Argentina. Environ Manage, 40, 814-821.
Gao, P., da Silva, E., Hou, L., Denslow, N.D., Xiang, P. and Ma, L.Q. (2018). Human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: metabolomics perspective. Environ. Int., 119, 466-477.
Kaplin, P. (1995). Caspian Sea environmental situation in the condition of water level rises. J. Water Dev., 3(1), 123-150.
478 Taghavi et al.
Korshenko, A. N. and GUL A. G. (2005). Pollution of the Caspian Sea. (In A. G. Kostianov and A. N. Kosarev (Eds.), The Caspian Sea Environment (Handbook of Environmental Chemistry) (pp. 109-142). Springer)
Kosarev, A.N. and Yablonskaya, E.A. (1994). The Caspian Sea. (The Hague, SPB Academic Publishing)
Koutsouradi, M., Karkazis, J., Siousiouras, P. and Chondrogianni, D. (2018). The Complexity of the Caspian Basin. Eur. Sci. J., 14(26), 159-172
Lattuada M., Albrecht, A. and Wilke, T. (2019). Differential impact of anthropogenic pressures on Caspian Sea ecoregions. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 142, 274-281
Law, R.J. and Klungsoyr, J. (2000). The analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in marine samples. Int J Environ Pollut, 13, 262–283.
Long, E.R., Macdonald, D.D., Smith, S.L. and Calder, F.D. (1995). Incidence of adverse biological effects within ranges of chemical concentrations in marine and estuarine sediments. Environ Manage, 19, 81–97
Melé, A.R., Cibrián, N.M., Sabaté, M.C., Ventura, F.C., Mayor, P. and Martínez, M.O. (2018). Oil pollution in soils and sediments from the Northern Peruvian Amazon. Sci. Total Environ., 610–611,1010-1019
Meyers P.A. (2003). Applications of organic geochemistry to paleolimnological reconstructions: a summary of examples from the Laurentian Great Lakes. Org Geochem, 34(2), 261–289
Mirvakili, H., Zaker, N.H. and Imani, F. (2013). Evaluation of oil pollution and origin in surface coastal sediments of Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. J. Coast. Res., 65, 93–98.
Mirvakili, H. and Zaker, N.H. (2014). Evaluation of PAHs in Hydrocarbons Pollution, Biodegradation and Weathering Extent in Surface Sediments of the Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. Int. J. Environ. Res., 8(2), 387-394.
Lourenço, R.A., Araujo Júnior, M.A.G., Meireles Júnior, R.O and Macena, L.F. (2013). Aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and trace elements as indicators of contamination status near oil and gas platforms in the Sergipe–Alagoas Basin (Southwest Atlantic Ocean). Cont. Shelf Res., 71, 37–44
Neff, J.M., Stout, S.A. and Gunster, D.G. (2005). Ecological risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments: Identifying sources and ecological hazards. Integr. Environ. Assess. Manag. 1, 22–33.
NOAA, US (1999). Sediment quality guidelines developed for the National Status and Trends Program.
Notar M., Leskov-Sek, H. and Faganel, J. (2001). Composition, Distribution and Sources of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Sediments of the Gulf of Trieste, Northern Adriatic Sea. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 42 (1), 36-44.
Peng, T., Li, J., Song, C., Guo, B., Liu, J., Zhao, Z. and Zhang, J. (2016). An integrated biomarker perspective on Neogene–Quaternary climatic evolution in NE Tibetan Plateau: implications for the Asian aridification. Quat. Int., 399, 174–182
Pu, Y., Wang, C. and Meyers, P.A. (2017). Origins of biomarker aliphatic hydrocarbons in sediments of alpine Lake Ximencuo, China. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 475, 106–114
Ranjbar, M.H. and Zaker, N.H. (2016). Estimation of environmental capacity of phosphorus in Gorgan Bay, Iran, via a 3D ecological-hydrodynamic model. Environ. Monit. Assess., 188(11), 1-12
Readman J.W., Fillmann, G., Tolosa I., Bartocci, J., Villeneuve, J.P., Catinni, C. and Mee, L.D. (2002). Petroleum and PAH contamination of the Black Sea. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 44(1), 48–62
Ruban, G. I. and Khodorevskaya, R. P. (2011). Caspian Sea sturgeon fishery: a historic overview. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 27, 199–208
Tarasov, P.E., Müller, S., Zech, M., Andreeva D., Diekmann B. and Leipe C. (2013). Last glacial vegetation reconstructions in the extreme continental eastern Asia: potentials of pollen and n-alkane biomarker analyses. Quat. Int., 290–291, 253–263
Pollution 2021, 7(2): 469-467 479
Tolosa, I., de Mora, S., Sheikholeslami, M.R., Villeneuve, J.P., Bartocci, J. and Cattini, C. (2004). Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in coastal Caspian Sea sediments. Mar. Pollut. Bull.,48, 44–60.
Tolosa, I., de Mora, S.; Fowler, S.W.; Villeneuve, J., Bartocci, J. and Cattini, C. (2005). Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in marine biota and coastal sediments from the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 50, 1619–1633
Tolosa, I., Mesa-Albernas, M. and Alonso-Hernandez, C.M. (2009). Inputs and Sources of Hydrocarbons in Sediments from Cienfuegos Bay, Cuba. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 58 (11), 1624-1634
UNEP/IOC/IAEA (1992). Determination of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Sediments. Reference Methods for Marine Pollution Studies No. 20. UNEP.
U.S Geological Survey (2010). Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the North Caspian Basin, Middle Caspian Basin, North Ustyurt Basin, and South Caspian Basin Provinces, Caspian Sea Area.
Volkman, J.K., Holdsworth, D.G., Neill, P. and Bavor, J. (1992). Identification of natural, anthropogenic and petroleum hydrocarbons in aquatic sediments. Sci. Total Environ., 112 (2-3), 203–219.
Wang, N., Zong, Y., Brodie, C.R. and Zheng, Z. (2014). An examination of the fidelity of n-alkanes as a palaeoclimate proxy from sediments of Palaeolake Tianyang, South China. Quat. Int., 333, 100–109
Yim, U.H., Hong, S.H. and Shim, W.J. (2007). Distribution and characteristics of PAHs in sediments from the marine environment of Korea. Chemosphere, 68, 85–92
Zaker, N.H., Ghaffari, P., Jamshidi, S. and Nouranian, M. (2011). Currents on the southern continental shelf of the Caspian Sea off Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran. J. Coast. Res., 64, 1989-1997.
Zaker, N.H., Rahmani, I., Moghaddam, M., Shadi, R. and Abessi. O. (2012). Concentrations and Origin of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in the Sediments of Anzali Port in the Caspian Sea, Iran. J. Environ. Stud., 37(60), 99-106. In Persian.