Preliminary assessment of Miramar Petrochemical Harbor as PAH source to Guajará bay (Belém-PA-Brazil) surface sediments

Silvana Do Socorro Veloso Sodré,José Augusto Martins Correa,Camila Carneiro Dos Santos Rodrigues,Rivelino Martins Cavalcante,Flaviana Cardoso Damasceno

doi:10.1590/0370-44672016700082

Abstract

Abstract A preliminary study on a petrochemical harbor as a potential source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) to surface sediments of Guajara bay, located in Belem City, Para State, Brazil, over the last 10 years is presented here. The 16 priority USEPA PAH were identified and quantified. Surface sediment samples, collected at 5 sites in the bay, near Miramar Petrochemical Harbor (TEMIR), were extracted and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography with a diode array detector. Total PAH concentration ranged from 533.0 to 3123.3 ng g-1 dry weight with a mean concentration of 1091.9 ng g-1. The most contaminated places were those where muddy sediments were found with highest concentrations of organic matter. The priority PAH with low molecular weight represented 54.4% of the total abundance and indicate that the main source of contamination of the sediments was petrogenic, indicative of the relevant contribution of the petrochemical harbor activity to the input of PAH to Guajara bay. However, pyrolytic PAH coming from fuel combustion, household waste combustion and untreated sewage discharge are also potential contamination sources to this environment.

Highlights

Due to their toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic characteristics, sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) have been identified as priority pollutants by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (KAYAL; CONNELL, 1995)
Among the 16 priority PAH as defined by the USEPA, the most abundant were Phe (16.2%), Na (14.8%), Ace (8.3%) and Acy (7.8%), typical of petrogenic contributions, since the Na and Phe are classified as petrogenic (PAGE et al, 1999)
The ΣPAH concentrations found in the sediments of the Guajará bay near the TEMIR, which is under a heavy influence of urban and port activities, can be compared with those reported in other studies performed in fluvial systems by Guo et al (2009), Meire et al (2009), Leite et al (2011) and Kanzari et al (2012)

Summary

Introduction

Carcinogenic, and mutagenic characteristics, sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) have been identified as priority pollutants by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (KAYAL; CONNELL, 1995). PAH are environmental pollutants, and useful geochemical markers of anthropogenic impacts, the temporal trends of PAH concentrations in sediments and its depositional fluxes and are correlated with historical energy consumption (LIU et al., 2012). Sediments are often contaminated with complex mixtures of toxicants and represent sinks and potential sources for moderately to strongly lipophilic chemicals such as PAH (BRACK, 2003; BRACK et al, 2005). Guajará bay is an integral part of the Amazon Estuary system, and functions as the main receiver of urban and industrial wastes from the city of Belém, capital city of Pará State (Northern Brazil). Miramar Petrochemical Harbor (TEMIR) is located in the Guajará bay’s eastern bank, 5 km from the Belém Port

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