Determination of PAHs in Surface Waters from the Doce and Piracicaba Rivers in Brazil

Aniel da Costa Lima¹, Fernanda Fernandes Heleno^2*, Robson José de Cássia Franco Afonso³, Mauricio Xavier Coutrim³

¹Federal Center of Technological Education of Minas Gerais, Curvelo, Brazil.
²Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Vicosa, Vicosa, Brazil.
³Chemistry Departament, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/jwarp.2015.75034                

Abstract

Sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were determined in water samples from the Piracicaba River and the Doce River in the municipality of Ipatinga, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were extracted by solid-phase extraction and were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatographic with diode-array detector. The limit of detection was as low as 1.3 ng·L^-1. All polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were found above the limit of quantification in water from at least four of the eight sampling points. Benzo[a]pyrene and chrysene were found at concentrations up to 80% above the limit set by Brazilian and European environmental legislation (0.05 μg·L^-1). The isomer ratios of the compounds indicated that crude oil and combustion processes were the main sources of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Keywords

Monitoring, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Water Quality

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Brasil, Ministerio do Desenvolvimento Urbano e Meio Ambiente (2005) Conselho Nacional do Meio Ambiente (CONAMA); Resolucao do n. 357, de 17/03/05, Brasília.
[2]	European Companian (2008) Directive 2008/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on Environmental Quality Standards in the Field of Water Policy, Amending and Subsequently Repealing. Official Journal of the European Union, L 348, 84-97.
[3]	Pichon, V. (2000) Solid-Phase Extraction for Multiresidue Analysis of Organic Contaminants in Water. Journal of Chromatography A, 885, 195-215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9673(00)00456-8
[4]	Olivella, M.à. (2006) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Rainwater and Surface Waters of Lake Maggiore, a Subalpine Lake in Northern Italy. Chemosphere, 63, 116-131. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2005.07.045
[5]	Fan, S.-L., Zhao, L. and Lin, J.-M. (2007) Flocculation-Ultrasonic Assisted Extraction and Solid Phase Clean-Up for Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water Rich in Colloidal Particulate with High Performance Liquid Chromatography and Ultraviolet-Fluorescence Detection. Talanta, 72, 1618-1624. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2007.01.034
[6]	Ardag, H., Ozel, M.Z. and Sen, A. (2011) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water from the Menderes River, Turkey. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 86, 221-225. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00128-011-0199-x
[7]	Brum, D.M., Cassella, R.J. and Netto, A.D.P. (2008) Multivariate Optimization of a Liquid-Liquid Extraction of the EPA-PAHs from Natural Contaminated Waters Prior to Determination by Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence Detection. Talanta, 74, 1392-1399. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2007.09.013
[8]	Jin, J., Zhang, Z.P., Li, Y., Qi, P.P., Lu, X.B., Wang, J.C., Chen, J.P. and Su, F. (2010) Enrichment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Seawater with Magnesium Oxide Microspheres as a Solid-Phase Extraction Sorbent. Analytica Chimica Acta, 678, 183-188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2010.08.028
[9]	Okuda, T., Naoi, D., Tenmoku, M., Tanaka, S., He, K., Ma, Y., Yang, F., Lei, Y., Jia, Y. and Zhang, D. (2006) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Aerosol in Beijing, China, Measured by Aminopropylsilane Chemically-Bonded Stationary-Phase Column Chromatography and HPLC/Fluorescence Detection. Chemosphere, 65, 427-435. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.01.064
[10]	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1996) Determinative Chromatographic Separations. EPA, Washington DC, Method 8000B.
[11]	Jeanneau, L., Faure, P. and Jarde, E. (2007) Influence of Natural Organic Matter on the Solid-Phase Extraction of Organic Micropollutants: Application to the Water-Extract from Highly Contaminated River Sediment. Journal of Chromatography A, 1173, 1-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2007.09.080
[12]	Chen, Y., Zhu, L. and Zhou, R. (2007) Characterization and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon in Surface Water and Sediment from Qiantang River, China. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 141, 148-155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2006.06.106
[13]	Doong, R-A. and Lin, Y-T. (2004) Characterization and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Contaminations in Surface Sediment and Water from Gao-Ping River, Taiwan. Water Research, 38, 1733-1744. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2003.12.042
[14]	Yunker, M.B., Snowdon, L.R., Macdonald, R.W., Smith, J.N., Fowler, M.G., Skibo, D.N., McLaughlin, F.A., Danyushevskaya, A.I., Petrova, V.I. and Ivanov, G.I. (1996) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Composition and Potential Sources for Sediment Samples from the Beaufort and Barents Seas. Environmental Science & Technology, 30, 1310-1320. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es950523k
[15]	Deng, H., Peng, P.A., Huang, W. and Song, J. (2006) Distribution and Loadings of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Xijiang River in Guangdong, South China. Chemosphere, 64, 1401-1411. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2005.12.027
[16]	Guo, W., He, M., Yang, Z., Lin, C., Quan, X. and Wang, H. (2007) Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water, Suspended Particulate Matter and Sediment from Daliao River Watershed, China. Chemosphere, 68, 93-104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.12.072
[17]	Brum, D.M. and Netto, A.D.P. (2009) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Tripuí River, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 165, 447-453. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.10.015
[18]	Yunker, M.B., Macdonald, R.W., Vingarzan, R., Mitchell, R.H., Goyette, D. and Sylvestre, S. (2002) PAHs in the Fraser River Basin: A Critical Appraisal of PAH Ratios as Indicators of PAH Source and Composition. Organic Geochemistry, 33, 489-515. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(02)00002-5