허베이스피리트 유출 사고 후 태안연안해역 잔류유분의 형광기법을 이용한 현장 모니터링

Abstract

More than 70 km of the coastline of western Korea were heavily impacted by crude oil spilled from the MV Hebei Spirit in December 2007. The contamination levels and temporal variations of dissolved/dispersed oil in seawater and pore water were monitored on site using a portable fluorometer. The oil content in seawater and/or pore water at 40 beaches exposed to the spill was measured monthly or seasonally for 10 months after the spill. More comprehensive examinations of oil contamination in pore water were conducted at Mallipo Beach, one of the largest and most heavily impacted beaches in the region. More than 980 samples were analyzed with the fluorometer and the oil concentrations in seawater were as high as 16,600 g/L right after the spill and appeared to decrease below the Korean marine water quality standard of 10 g/L at most sites 10 months after the spill. Fluorometric detection of oil in pore water was introduced to eliminate the effects of grain size for the quantification of oil in sediments and to better explain the oil pollution at sandy beaches. The oil content in pore water remained very high, up to 2,320 g/L, for the first couple of months after the spill, followed by an obvious decrease since April 2008. Continuous elevations of oil contamination were also observed at certain local sites for the last 10 months, implying that oil in pore water can persist in some confined areas. The fluorescence detection method was compared with the conventional laboratory technique of total petroleum hydrocarbon analysis using gas chromatography (GC). The method of fluorescence detection of oil was capable of generating results much faster and more cost-effectively than the traditional GC technique.