Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) cycling and fates in Galveston Bay, Texas, USA

Abstract

The cycling and fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is not well understood in estuarine systems. It is critical now more than ever given the increased ecosystem pressures on these critical coastal habitats. A budget of PAHs and cycling has been created for Galveston Bay (Texas) in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, an estuary surrounded by 30–50% of the US capacity of oil refineries and chemical industry. We estimate that approximately 3 to 4 mt per year of pyrogenic PAHs are introduced to Galveston Bay via gaseous exchange from the atmosphere (ca. 2 mt/year) in addition to numerous spills of petrogenic PAHs from oil and gas operations (ca. 1.0 to 1.9 mt/year). PAHs are cycled through and stored in the biota, and ca. 20 to 30% of the total (0.8 to 1.5 mt per year) are estimated to be buried in the sediments. Oysters concentrate PAHs to levels above their surroundings (water and sediments) and contain substantially greater concentrations than other fish catch (shrimp, blue crabs and fin fish). Smaller organisms (infaunal invertebrates, phytoplankton and zooplankton) might also retain a significant fraction of the total, but direct evidence for this is lacking. The amount of PAHs delivered to humans in seafood, based on reported landings, is trivially small compared to the total inputs, sediment accumulation and other possible fates (metabolic remineralization, export in tides, etc.), which remain poorly known. The generally higher concentrations in biota from Galveston Bay compared to other coastal habitats can be attributed to both intermittent spills of gas and oil and the bay's close proximity to high production of pyrogenic PAHs within the urban industrial complex of the city of Houston as well as periodic flood events that transport PAHs from land surfaces to the Bay.

PM-Bound Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Nitro-Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Ambient Air of Vladivostok: Seasonal Variation, Sources, Health Risk Assessment and Long-Term Variability

“…Although the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAH) in PM are generally much lower than those of other compounds [ 1 , 2 ], PAHs and NPAHs have been found to be the major components associated with carcinogens and mutagens, such as BaP and 6-nitrochrysene (6-NC) [ 3 , 4 ]. PAHs and NPAHs can easily move among ecosystems and adversely affect many organisms, including humans, due to their small size and persistence [ 5 ]. PAHs and NPAHs mainly originate from anthropogenic pyrogenic sources, such as coal combustion, vehicle emissions and biomass burning [ 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”

Shallow infaunal responses to the Deepwater Horizon event: Implications for studying future oil spills

“…Oil spills, like climate change and habitat loss, are a hallmark of post-industrial human activities (Kennish, 2002;Jernelöv, 2010;Farrington, 2013;Barron et al, 2020;Rowe et al, 2020). Spills have occurred in every ocean of the world and can be surprisingly frequent (Eckle et al, 2012) -nearly one million gallons of oil are released in US waters annually (US Dept of Transportation, 2017).…”