Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: sources, occurrence, levels, distribution and ecotoxicological fate at coastal and Deep Ocean

ANA LAURA OLIVA; ANA CAROLINA RONDA; LAUTARO GIRONÉS; MELINA ORAZI; RECABARREN-VILLALÓN, TATIANA; JORGE MARCOVECCHIO; ARIAS, ANDRÉS H.

Coastal and Deep Ocean Pollution

CRC Press.

Año: 2019; p. 288 - 316

Oceans cover 75% of the earth?s surface, and they contain 90% of the planet?s water. It is estimated that 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 (Costanza 1994, Marcovecchio et al. 2014). As a consequence, marine environments support an intensive and increasing anthropogenic pressure including inputs from agriculture, industrial and municipal wastewaters, oil spills and direct industrial discharges.Environmental pollution by persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has triggered an increasing concern all over the world. POPs can persist in the environment for a long time and travel a long distance 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, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous contaminants in marine and coastal environments.Hundreds of different combinations of PAHs exist, but only a small group of these compounds are considered pollutants of environmental importance. This chapter presents general aspects of PAHs as environmental pollutants and synthesizes information on the presence and levels of PAHs in the coasts and deep sea throughout the world.