Sewage influence in a macrotidal estuary: Fatty acid and sterol distributions

Abstract

Estuarine surface sediment and suspended matter from the Morlaix River estuary were analysed for fatty acids and sterols by HPLC and GC. This estuary represents a typical example of a coastal river estuary subjected to strong tides and receiving domestic wastes in its upper reaches. Wastewater fatty acid and sterol distribution patterns have been used to estimate the anthropogenic matter influx and its behaviour as an estuarine organic matter component. The 5 β -stanols, specific to fecal material and relatively persistent in the environment, provide a spatial view of sewage dispersion in estuarine waters and sediments and are used to calculate the relative importance of anthropogenic inputs in the degradable organic matter. Their distribution at high and low water indicates that anthropogenic particles are distributed throughout the estuary and may reach the coastal areas. However, owing to the dilution and the sedimentation processes, the anthropogenic matter contribution to the total organic matter is low in the outer estuary. By contrast, sediments from the upper estuary are strongly influenced by fresh anthropogenic inputs which may be detected by fatty acid fingerprint. The 18:1( n − 7)/18:1( n − 9) ratio which indicates the ability of the sediment to degrade the anthropogenic fresh material demonstrates a perturbation all along the narrow upper estuary.