Abstract
Petroleum spills and other sources of hydrocarbons contamination represent risks for society. Regardless of whether oil is stranded on a shoreline, spilled from a pipeline, or leaked from underground storage tanks, the same physical and chemical properties characterize exposure level of contaminants. Many microorganisms have evolved the ability to feed on naturally occurring petroleum hydrocarbons, which they use as sources of carbon and energy to make new microbial cells. Bacterial population indigenous to marine ecosystems can attack most of the tens and thousands of chemical compounds that make up crude oil. Different bacterial species rather than any single species act together to break hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide, water, and inactive residues. Even toxic oil residues, including highly toxic hydrocarbon polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), can be detoxified. Microorganisms do not accumulate hydrocarbons as they consume and degrade them, so they are not conduit for transferring hydrocarbons into the food web. In fact, microorganisms grown on hydrocarbons can be a potential source of protein for animals and human food. In this study, the purpose is to show factors affecting persistence and environmental risk.
Highlights
Scientists studied the relationship between shoreline type, oil penetration, persistence and long term monitoring at a sites of major spills before 1989 [1,2,3,4,5]
Physical process and geomorphological features of the shoreline contributed to oil sequestration and long-term persistence [5]
A significant laboratory observation was made in the late 1989 to early 1990, it was observed that oil residues were transformed somehow in a manner that enhanced their removal from shorelines even with only gentle water movements
Summary
Scientists studied the relationship between shoreline type, oil penetration, persistence and long term monitoring at a sites of major spills before 1989 [1,2,3,4,5]. Physical process and geomorphological features of the shoreline contributed to oil sequestration and long-term persistence [5]. A significant laboratory observation was made in the late 1989 to early 1990, it was observed that oil residues were transformed somehow in a manner that enhanced their removal from shorelines even with only gentle water movements. After being immerse in seawater within few hours, oil on sediment appear no longer to adhere to sediments but instead to exists as loosely aggregate, fuzzy droplets typical of a flocculated emulsion. Example found when oil residue could be washed from hands and boots with cold water instead of kerosene or other cleaners. These flocs or slightly buoyant droplets tended to concentrate at the upper interstitial contact points in pores. Closer examination revealed that the modified oil had been transformed into a water external emulsion (Figure 1)
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