Abstract
Using pressurized liquid extraction and GC-MS/MS, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) levels were determined in pond and river sediments receiving effluents from a Chemicals Installation (CI) and a Surface Treatment Installation (STI), respectively. Maximum values were obtained for the STI site with total PAH concentrations of 3000-4000 ng g-1 compared to 200-2500 ng g-1 for the CI site. Furthermore, in the river (STI), for two PAHs (phenanthrene and acenaphthylene), one sample presented concentrations that exceeded the probable effect concentrations leading to this sediment being classified as toxic. However, PAH levels were higher upstream of the STI discharge water than downstream, indicating sediment PAH accumulation was not exclusively due to this industrial activity. At the CI site, the concentrations found at different points showed that in the pond, PAHs were derived from industrial activities but were rapidly diluted in the water mass. PAH fingerprinting following various guidelines, revealed the prevalence of a pyrolytic origin.
Highlights
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are organic pollutants with two or more fused aromatic rings
Numerous methods have already been developed for PAH extraction in various environmental matrices, such as Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE), Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE), subcritical water extraction, Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction (DLLME), Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) or Microextraction (SPME), Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) or soxhlet extraction [16,17,18,19,20]
In hexane and with two extraction cycles, an average efficiency increase of 36% was obtained with the use of PLE compared to both fractions summed in ultrasonic extraction (USE)
Summary
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are organic pollutants with two or more fused aromatic rings They are introduced into the environment via natural and anthropogenic processes and contaminate all environmental compartments. They have already been found in food or food supplements [1], marine organisms [2,3,4], water [5,6,7], sewage sludge [8], dust particles, soils and sediments [9,10,11,12]. It was necessary to develop analytical methods able to quantify this pollutant family. Numerous methods have already been developed for PAH extraction in various environmental matrices, such as Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE), Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE), subcritical water extraction, Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction (DLLME), Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) or Microextraction (SPME), Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) or soxhlet extraction [16,17,18,19,20]
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