Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in remote mountain lake waters (original) (raw)
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Sediment Fluxes of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in European High Altitude Mountain Lakes
Environmental Science & Technology, 1999
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were measured in superficial sediments from several high altitude mountain lakes for assessment of contemporary background PAH pollution levels in Europe. The sediments were obtained by gravity coring, and the upper 0-1 cm were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The parent PAH mixtures are very uniform irrespective of lake location, lake characteristics, and PAH load, corresponding to airborne combustion mixtures refractory to photooxidation and chemical degradation. The sedimentary fluxes are lowest in lake Arresjøen (Arctic area), 6.9 µg/m 2 yr, between 44 and 150 µg/m 2 yr in west and central Europe and very high, 960-1700 µg/m 2 yr, in east Europe. Normalization of these values to TOC reflects a uniform pattern in correspondence with continental influence and eastwest distribution. This pattern parallels the annual average atmospheric deposition fluxes of sulfate, pointing to combustion particles as the main way of PAH transport into these high altitude lakes. The lowest PAH/TOC ratios are found in the sites more distant from the continent (4.6-4.9 µg/g), the westernmost locations constitute another group (Iberian Peninsula, 7.2-7.8 µg/g), higher values are found in the Alps and Pyrenees (13-17 µg/g), and the most polluted lakes are found in the Tatra mountains (130 µg/g).
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in lake sediments from the High Tatras
Environmental Pollution, 2011
High sedimentary PAH loads were observed in alpine lakes in the High Tatras (Eastern Europe) which are related to high PAH atmospheric deposition fluxes. a b s t r a c t European alpine lake systems are used as indicators of air quality over the continent. Preliminary data showed high polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) loads in the High Tatras (Eastern Europe) in comparison to other mountain regions. Here, insight on the spatial distribution of PAH is provided from analysis of top-core sediments of 27 alpine lakes distributed along the High Tatras.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Recent lake sediments—I. Compounds having anthropogenic origins
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 1980
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHj in sediment cores from Lake Lucerne, Lake Ziirich. and Greifensee. Switzerland. and Lake Washington. northwest U.S.A.. have been Isolated, identified and quantified by glass capillary gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Surface sediment layers are greatly enriched in PAH-up to 40 times--compared to deeper layers. In addition, concentration increases in upper sediments generally correspond to increasing industrialization and urbanization in the catchment basins of the lakes. Few PAH could be detected in pre-industrial revolution sediments. indicating that background levels for most PAH in aquatic sediments are extremely low.
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 2010
18 19 Sediment quality guidelines and toxic equivalent factors have been used for assessment 20 of the toxicity of sedimentary long-range atmospherically transported polycyclic 21 aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to the organisms living in high mountain European 22 lakes. This method has provided indices that are consistent with experimental studies 23 evaluating in situ sedimentary estrogenic activity or physiological response to AhR 24 binding in fish from the same lakes. All examined lakes in north, central, west, 25 northeast and southeast European mountains have shown sedimentary PAH 26 concentrations that are above thresholds of no effect but only those situated in the 27 southeast lakes district exhibited concentrations above the indices of probable effects. 28 These mountains, Tatras, are also those having PAH concentrations of highest activity 29 for AhR binding. Chrysene+triphenylene, dibenz[a]anthracene, benzo[k]fluoranthene 30 and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene are the main compounds responsible for the observed toxic 31 effects. 32 33 34
2002
Spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCP) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) have been measured in the dated sediment cores of 10 remote lakes distributed across Europe. The geographic trends were evaluated by examination of the superficial sediment fluxes and total sediment inventories. The highest levels of both markers were observed in the Eastern European lakes whereas the minimal values corresponded to the lake located in the Arctic. However, this SCP-PAH correlation was not observed after exclusion of the end member lakes from the series. The temporal trends of both pollutant markers are consistent with the history of pyrolytic emissions over Europe. However, the downcore SCP distributions are shorter than the PAH profiles in nearly all lakes. The differences are probably related to the different size particle fractions involved in the measurement of each marker, >5 and <1 µm for SCP and PAH, respectively. Thus, the two proxies probably reflect pollution inputs from closer (SCP) and more distant sites (PAH).
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) deposition to and processing in a small rural lake, Cumbria UK
Science of The Total Environment, 1998
PAH concentrations were determined in a dated sediment core collected from Esthwaite Water (EW), a seasonally anoxic lake in the English Lake District. The most dramatic variations are associated with increased PAH fluxes from ∼1900 and a sub-surface maximum (∼29 mg m−2 year−1) in the late 1960s to early 1970s, followed by a fivefold decrease in fluxes to the sediment-water interface. This trend is believed to reflect enhanced fossil fuel burning, followed by general improvements in combustion technologies, shifts in the fuels used for domestic space heating and the implementation of various emission controls on releases from certain known PAH sources. When the relative contributions from individual compounds to the ∑PAH were plotted as vertical profiles, coherent time trends emerged. Perylene dominated the pre-1900 sedimentary PAH composition, contributing >75% to the ∑PAH mixture. The perylene profile provides good evidence for both natural and anthropogenic sources to EW. The ratios of annual sediment trap fluxes to surficial sediment accumulation rates are substantially greater than one for the low molecular weight compounds, suggesting release at or near the sediment water interface and subsequent recycling of these compounds. Recycling was found to increase with increasing solubility and decreasing log Kow.
Environmental monitoring …, 2008
The distribution of 11 individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was analysed in a 210 Pb dated sediment core from the deepest area of Lake Peipsi and in four surface sediment samples taken from littoral areas. According to the concentrations in the core three groups of PAHs may be distinguished: (1) relatively stable concentrations of PAHs within the whole studied time interval; (2) very low concentrations in sediments accumulated before intensive anthropogenic impact (from 19th century up to the 1920s) following a slight increase and (3) an overall increase in PAH concentrations since the 1920s up to the present. Comprehensive analysis of PAHs in the core and monitoring data obtained in the 1980s together with the lithology of sediments show that an increase of anthropogenically induced PAHs correlates well with the history of fuel consumption in Estonia and speaks about atmospheric long-distance transport of PAHs. The continuous increase of PAH concentrations since the 1920s do not support the earlier hypothesis about the dominating impact of the oil shale fired power plants near the lake, because their emissions decreased significantly in the 1990s. The concentration of PAHs in the deep lake core sample correlates well with the content of organic matter, indicating absorption and co-precipitation with plankton in the sediment.
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2010
The concentrations of 12 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined from 28 sediment samples taken from the Lake Iznik located in the northwest area in Turkey. Total concentration of the PAHs was observed as in the range of 17-835 ng g -1 dry weight, with the highest values recorded offshore the cities of Iznik and Orhangazi, and the Sölöz creek. According to the molecular indices, contamination of the PAHs in the lake was a mixture of the atmospheric input of high temperature pyrolytic processes and the petrogenic sources transported by the creeks. Further, the higher proportion of high molecular-weight PAHs ([85%) suggests the domination of combustion-related sources. Compared to the consensusbased sediment quality guidelines for PAHs, there are no harmful biological effects on the short term to aquatic life.