Abstract
Hydrocarbons isolated from southern California municipal wastewaters were analyzed by high-resolution gas chromatography and computer-assisted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Most of the hydrocarbons (56-77%) are not chromatographically resolvable and probably derive from petroleum products such as lubricating oils. Normal, iso-, and acyclic isoprenoid alkanes along with alkylcyclohexanes and numerous series of substituted benzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons compose the major fraction of the resolvable hydrocarbons. Polycyclic terpenoids occur as trace constituents and appear also to be of ancient, not recent biosynthetic, origin. However, the virtual absence of 17..cap alpha..(H),18..cap alpha..(H),21..beta..(H)-28,30-dinorhopane, a specific marker of California oils, indicates that locally produced petroleum is, at most, a minor contributor to these wastewaters. A homologous series of long-chain alkylbenzenes presumably derived from the LAS-type detergents was identified. These compounds seem to be abundant and ubiquitous domestic wastewater constituents that might be exploited as anthropogenic waste tracers in the marine environment.
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