Sea breeze modulated volatilization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the Masnou Harbor (NW Mediterranean Sea).

Abstract

Harbors, marinas, and coastal environments are impacted by important pollutant loadings, particularly of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Air-water exchange is an important process driving the environmental fate of organic pollutants in aquatic environments. However, its relevance as a factor affecting the environmental fate of pollutants from harbor sediments and waters has not been properly assessed, so far, except for few coastal environments. The objective of this study is to quantify the importance of volatilization losses of PAHs from harbor sediments and waters and to study the potential role of sea breeze as a modulator of air-water exchange in coastal environments. The results show that volatilization fluxes from a medium size marina located in the NW Mediterranean sea are relatively high in comparison to those observed in other aquatic systems, particularly for the low molecular weight (MW) compounds. This is consistent with PAHs profiles observed in harbor sediments, which are depleted by the lower MW hydrocarbons. Therefore, volatilization is an important loss of low MW PAHs such as phenanthrene, methyl phenanthrene, dibenzothiophene, etc. Indeed, these PAHs have a residence time of few days in the harbor waters and sediments. Finally, the diurnal trends in volatilization fluxes mimics that of the sea breeze influenced wind speed. These results show the important role that the diurnal sea breeze exerts on the environmental fate of pollutants such as PAHs in coastal environments as a modulator of air-water exchange and as a potential driver of transport of pollutants between adjacent coastal and terrestrial environments.