Comparative study on organic constituents in polluted and unpolluted inland aquatic environments-I features of hydrocarbons for polluted and unpolluted waters

Abstract

The constituents of hydrocarbons between highly polluted river waters collected from the Tokyo area and unpolluted river, brook, reservoir and pond waters obtained from the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands were compared to characterize their features for polluted and unpolluted waters. n-Alkanes between the carbon chain length of C 12 and C 36, squalane and unresolved complex mixture of hydrocarbons (UCMH) were found in most of the river waters of the Tokyo area at the contents ranging from 0.026 to 14 μg 1 −1, from 0.004 to 1.7 μg 1 −1 and from less than 5 to 290 μg 1 −1, respectively, whereas in the waters of the Ogasawara Islands, only n-alkanes ranging from C 13 to C 37 were found with the great predominance of odd-carbon numbers at the contents varying from 0.042 to 4.0 μg 1 −1. It was indicated that the presence of squalane, UCMH and even-carbon numbered n-alkanes as the major constituents are intimately correlated with artificial hydrocarbon sources (fossil fuels and their products and both combustion products, and industrial products), while the great predominance of odd-carbon numbered n-alkanes for the unpolluted areas are mainly due to algae and higher plants. Besides, the major portion of n-alkanes, squalane and UCMH are thought to be present in polluted and unpolluted waters associated with particulate materials.