Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Sources, Occurrence, Levels, Distribution and Ecotoxicological Fate at Coastal and Deep Ocean

OLIVA, A.L.; RONDA, ANA CAROLINA; GIRONES, LAUTARO; ORAZI, MELINA MIRTA; RECABARREN TATIANA; JORGE E. MARCOVECCHIO; ANDRÉS H. ARIAS

Coastal and Deep Ocean Pollution

Taylor & Francis, CRC Press

Lugar: Florida; Año: 2020; p. 288 - 316

Oceans cover 75% of the earth?s surface, and they contain 90% of the planet?s water. It is estimatedthat more than half of the human population (65%) lives along the coasts (Small and Nichols 2003),with a general tendency of people to move from continental regions towards the coasts (Costanza1994, Marcovecchio et al. 2014). As a consequence, marine environments support an intensive and increasing anthropogenic pressure including inputs from agriculture, industrial and municipalwastewaters, oil spills and direct industrial discharges.Environmental pollution by persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has triggered an increasingconcern all over the world. POPs can persist in the environment for a long time and travel a longdistance from their original source. POPs can be released in polluted regions far from their origin,crossing boundaries, and their control requires international efforts (Tanabe 1991, Wania and Mackay 1996, Fu et al. 2003). Moreover, POPs are able to accumulate in the environment (water, air, soils,sediments and biota) and exert biological effects on humans and wildlife. Among POPs, polycyclicaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous contaminants in marine and coastal environments