Occurrence and Risk Assessment of PAHs in Surface Sediments from Western Arctic and Subarctic Oceans

Abstract

In the fourth Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (from July to September, 2010), 14 surface sediment samples were collected from the Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Canadian Basin to examine the spatial distributions, potential sources, as well as ecological and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The ∑PAH (refers to the sum of 16 priority PAHs) concentration range from 27.66 ng/g to 167.48 ng/g (dry weight, d.w.). Additionally, the concentrations of ∑PAH were highest in the margin edges of the Canadian Basin, which may originate from coal combustion with an accumulation of Canadian point sources and river runoff due to the surface ocean currents. The lowest levels occurred in the northern of Canadian Basin, and the levels of ∑PAH in the Chukchi Sea were slightly higher than those in the Being Sea. Three isomer ratios of PAHs (Phenanthrene/Anthracene, BaA/(BaA+Chy), and LMW/HMW) were used to investigate the potential sources of PAHs, which showed the main source of combustion combined with weaker petroleum contribution. Compared with four sediment quality guidelines, the concentrations of PAH are much lower, indicating a low potential ecological risk. All TEQPAH also showed a low risk to human health. Our study revealed the important role of the ocean current on the redistribution of PAHs in the Arctic.

Intestinal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon‐DNA adducts in a population of beluga whales with high levels of gastrointestinal cancers

“…The aquarium beluga tissues were from animals dying of natural causes or euthanized due to disease. Because the aquaria and the Eastern Beaufort Sea and Point Lay Arctic regions have low PAH contamination levels [Chen et al, ; Stimmelmayr et al, ], they have been grouped together as Arctic and aquarium (A&A).…”

Effects of offshore oil exploration and development in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea: Long‐term patterns of hydrocarbons in sediments

“…Most surveys of total PAHs in marine sediments quantify just the 16 USEPA priority parent PAHs (e.g., Chen et al ) and none or only a few alkyl‐PAHs. These PAH assemblages are inadequate for characterizing the sources of the PAHs in sediments and their ecological risks to marine habitats (Andersson and Achten ).…”

Spatial and Temporal Distributions of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Sediments from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago

“…Pyrogenic PAHs are produced during the incomplete combustion of organic matter, which includes forest and bush fires and fossil fuel and coal combustion (Chen et al, 2018;Yu et al, 2019). These PAHs are mainly emitted into the atmosphere and could occur either in the gaseous phase or bonded to the particulate phase (i.e., mineral dust and salt) (Tobiszewski and Namieśnik, 2012).…”

“…These PAHs are mainly emitted into the atmosphere and could occur either in the gaseous phase or bonded to the particulate phase (i.e., mineral dust and salt) (Tobiszewski and Namieśnik, 2012). Owing to their low vapor pressures, the majority of these semivolatile compounds undergoes repeated cycles of volatilization-deposition, travel across long distances and eventually end up in waters, soils and sediments via deposition (AMAP, 2017;Chen et al, 2018;Balmer et al, 2019). The PAHs produced at mid-latitudes could thus reach the Arctic, as shown by modeling studies (Wang et al, 2010;Sofowote et al, 2011).…”

“…PAHs are introduced to the environment via natural or anthropogenic sources (Lima et al, 2005;Foster et al, 2015;Chen et al, 2018), and anthropogenic activities are major sources of the PAHs occurring in the biosphere (Yanik et al, 2003;Morillo et al, 2008).…”