Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments from the Pearl river and estuary, China: spatial and temporal distribution and sources

Autor: Zhang Gan, Min Yushun, Lin Zheng, Mai Bi-xian, Wang Xingmin, Fu Jiamo, Sheng Guoying
Rok vydání: 2001
Předmět:
Zdroj: Applied Geochemistry. 16:1429-1445
ISSN: 0883-2927
DOI: 10.1016/s0883-2927(01)00050-6
Popis: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in surface sediments and dated core sediments from the Pearl river and estuary, China, to investigate the spatial and temporal variability of anthropogenic pollutants. The sediments from the sampling stations at the Guangzhou channel have the highest concentrations of PAHs, owing to contributions from the large amount of urban/industrial discharges from the city of Guangzhou. The significant decrease of PAHs concentrations in sediments from the Shiziyang channel is mainly attributed to the increasing degradation and desorption of low molecular weight PAHs and alkyl PAHs, and the dilution by less contaminated water and particles from the East river. The PAH contaminants were concentrated on the western side in the Lingding bay of the Pearl river estuary because of the hydrodynamic and sedimentation conditions. Based on the characteristics of the parent compound distributions (PCDs) and the alkyl homologue distributions (AHDs) of PAHs, the potential source of PAHs in sediments from each sampling station was identified. Results indicated that the pyrogenic (combustion) source, characterized by the abundance of parent PAHs, were predominant in the heavily contaminated station (ZB01) near the aging industrial area, and the petrogenic (petroleum- derived) PAHs were more abundant in the stations (ZB02, ZB03) adjacent to the petrochemical plant and shipping harbor. Sediments from Lingding bay show variable distributions of PAH composition and variety in the proportion of combustion and petrogenic sources for the PAHs in different stations. Perylene, a naturally derived PAH, was found to be highly abundant in less contaminated stations. Analysis of the dated sediments (210Pb) indicates that higher PAH concentrations occurred in the sediments deposited after 1980, and higher fluxes of PAHs discharged to the Pearl river are found after 1990.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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