Abstract
BackgroundTaihu Lake is a typical plain eutrophic shallow lake. With rapidly economic development of the lake area, the petroleum products and oil wastewater produced in various processes have been inevitably discharged into Taihu Lake. As the major fresh water resource in the economically developed region of Yangtze River Delta, the water quality and environmental condition of Taihu Lake have the direct bearing on the natural environment and sustainable development of economy in this region. For this reason we carried out the study to explore the composition, distribution characteristics and sources of petroleum contaminants in Taihu Lake. The aim of this study was to provide the basis for standard management and pollution control of the Taihu Lake environment.ResultsThe result showed that water samples from near industrial locations were of relatively higher petroleum contaminants concentrations. The oil pollutants concentrations in different areas of Lake Taihu ranged from 0.106 mg/L to 1.168 mg/L, and the sequence of total contents distribution characteristics of petroleum pollutants from high to low in different regions of Taihu Lake was: “Dapu”, “Xiaomeikou”, “Zhushan Bay”, “Lake center”, “Qidu”. The results showed that total concentrations of n-alkanes and PAHs ranged from 0.045 to 0.281 mg/L and from 0.011 to 0.034 mg/L respectively. In the same region, the concentrations of hydrocarbon pollutants in the surface and bottom of the lake were higher than that in the middle.ConclusionThis paper reached a conclusion that the petroleum contaminants in Taihu Lake mainly derived from petroleum pollution caused by human activities as indicated by OEP, bimodal distribution, CPI, Pr/Ph ratio, the LMW/HMW ratio and other evaluation indices for sources of n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Highlights
Taihu Lake is one of the five largest freshwater lakes in China, and it is a typical plain eutrophic shallow lake
With rapidly economic development of the lake area, the petroleum products and oil wastewater produced in the process of oil processing, transportation and application of various refined oil have been inevitably discharged into Taihu Lake
Taking Taihu Lake, which is one of the five largest lakes in China [9], as the research object, this paper systematically studied the composition, distribution characteristics and sources of petroleum pollutants in Taihu Lake by means of infrared spectrophotometry stipulated in Surface Water Quality Standards (GB/T 16488–1996 in China) [10] and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry in order to provide basic information for standard management and pollution control of the lake environment
Summary
Taihu Lake is one of the five largest freshwater lakes in China, and it is a typical plain eutrophic shallow lake. As the major fresh water resource in the economically developed region of Yangtze River Delta, the water quality and environmental condition of Taihu Lake have direct influence on the natural environment and sustainable development of economy in this region [1]. As the major fresh water resource in the economically developed region of Yangtze River Delta, the water quality and environmental condition of Taihu Lake have the direct bearing on the natural environment and sustainable development of economy in this region. For this reason we carried out the study to explore the composition, distribution characteristics and sources of petroleum contaminants in Taihu Lake. The aim of this study was to provide the basis for standard management and pollution control of the Taihu Lake environment
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
