Distribution, Sources, and Potential Ecotoxicological Risk of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Surface Sediments from Bahía Blanca Estuary, Argentina

OLIVA, A.L; QUINTAS, P. Y.; LA COLLA, N.S.; ARIAS, AH; MARCOVECCHIO, JE

ARCHIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND TOXICOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2015 vol. 69 p. 163 - 172

0090-4341

Thirty-four surface sediment samples werecollected from Bahı´a Blanca Estuary, Argentina, to evaluatepolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contaminationand ecotoxicity risk by applying sediment-qualityguidelines (SQGs) and toxic equivalent factors (TEQ).Total concentrations of 17 parent PAHs, including the 16United States Environmental Protection Agency priorityPAHs, were measured using gas chromatography?massspectrometry, and their levels ranged from 19.7 to30,054.5 ng/g dry weight. The greatest values were foundnear the urban/industrial core and decreasing as the distancefrom that site increased. Molecular ratios determinedmixed sources of PAHs with a slight imposition of pyroliticover the petrogenic inputs. The ecotoxicological evaluation,based on the SQG model, showed that some of theindividual PAHs were in excess of the effects range low(ERL) and the effects range median?s threshold; then,predicted occasional (ERL) and frequent adverse effectsover the surrounding biota at the area of study weredetermined. Total PAH levels were expressed as benzo-apyreneTEQ and compared with literature data.