Long-term monitoring of petroleum derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using passive air sampler after the Hebei Spirit oil spill

Abstract

Passive air samplers consisting of polyurethane foam disks are cost-effective simple tools that have been successfully employed for assesssing air concentrations of semi-volatile organic compounds such as PAHs. Passive air samplers were deployed at spill sites and reference site for one year after the Hebei Spirit oil spill on monthly basis. Monthly variation of vapor phase 15PAHs were similar to those reported at reference site during the sampling period. On the ohter hand, concentrations of alkylated PAHs measured at spill sites were significantly higher than that of a reference site immediately after the oil spill. In particular, the concentrations and profiles of alkylated phenanthrenes and dibenzothiophenes exhibited strong influence of petroleum derived PAHs inputs. One of oil fingerprinting indexes, PAHs double ratio identified petrogenic input source and further implicated environmental fate of volatile fractions of spilled oil. This study demonstrates that passive air sampling is usefull tool for spatiallly resolved and time intergrated monitoring of atmospheric PAHs after an oil spill. deployed at spill sites and reference site for one year after the Hebei Spirit oil spill on monthly basis. Monthly variation of vapor phase 15PAHs were similar to those reported at reference site during the sampling period. On the ohter hand, concentrations of alkylated PAHs measured at spill sites were significantly higher than that of a reference site immediately after the oil spill. In particular, the concentrations and profiles of alkylated phenanthrenes and dibenzothiophenes exhibited strong influence of petroleum derived PAHs inputs. One of oil fingerprinting indexes, PAHs double ratio identified petrogenic input source and further implicated environmental fate of volatile fractions of spilled oil. This study demonstrates that passive air sampling is usefull tool for spatiallly resolved and time intergrated monitoring of atmospheric PAHs after an oil spill.