Characterization, Concentration and Depositional History of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Pahs) and Hopane from Selected Locations in Peninsular Malaysia

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the most important classes of pollutants in the marine environment that derive mostly from petroleum products. PAHs are ubiquitous compounds of concern due to its carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic characteristics. Eight sedimentary cores were obtained from developed and developing areas around Peninsular Malaysia to investigate the historical profile of PAHs, their characteristics and its possible origins. Hopane composition and ratio were used as environmental forensic investigation biomarkers. The results showed that the PAHs varied from below detection limit amounts in offshore and less developed areas to near 4500 ngg-1 d. w. in developed and polluted locations. Most of the studied locations showed high contribution of PAHs from combusted fuel, coal, biomass and wood materials except for the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia which implied petroleum products release where shipping and marine transportation is active. The findings indicate pyrogenic and petrogenic PAHs comes from different intermediate materials such as asphalt, street dust, vehicular emission and crankcase oil with higher amounts near the city hinterland. Although there has been a decline of PAHs input into the marine environment in recent years, petroleum is shown to be a significant cause of marine pollution since the 1940’s. Climatic conditions play a role such as heavy daily rainfall, high organic content and suspended particle, accelerated wash off of contaminated materials into the marine environment via lateral transport. Results of statistical tests of PAHs specific compound suggest that PAHs in the deeper cores are derived naturally from biogeochemical processes

Distribution, characterization and origins of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)in surficial sediment of Penang, Malaysia: the presence of fresh and toxic substances

Petroleum hydrocarbon pollution is one of the most serious problems facing by many developing countries including Malaysia. One class of petroleum hydrocarbon is Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are made up of large group of compounds but semi volatile comprising of 2 to 7 rings are considered toxic to human health. There are 16 semi-volatile PAHs classified as priority pollutants by USEPA some of which have been shown to disrupt endocrine systems in human. Twenty surface sediments were collected along South and North of Penang Bridge (Prai Straits) covering industrial, urban, shipping lane, tourism attraction and fishing grounds. The samples were dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate and extracted with Soxhlet extraction, treated by activated copper to remove the elemental sulfur, then purified and fractionated with 2-steps column chromatography. PAHs fraction were collected and subsequently injected into Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) using selected ion monitoring mode. Compound-specific PAHs were qualified by comparing the retention times of native standard previously run in the same machine with identical conditions. PAHs were quantified and recovery-corrected using a known concentration of internal injection standard spiked just before the GC-MS analysis. Total concentration of PAHs in the sediment ranged from 391 to 554204 ng/g dry weight. The ratio of the sum methylphenanthrenes to Phenantherene (MP/P), an index for sources of PAHs, shows that 16 stations have MP/P values of less than 1 indicating pyrogenic origin. These results indicate that the area receives pyrogenic PAHs from long range atmospheric input. This study found that the trend of previous petrogenic input into the environmental compartment of Peninsular Malaysia is changed possibly due to strict environmental regulations on the release of petroleum products in Penang the source has been moved to the pyrogenic

Seaweed modeling for drying and the efficiency as heavy metal removal in Kappaphycus Striatum variety Sacol using Solar Dryer

The solar drying experiment of seaweed using Green V-Roof Hybrid Solar Drier (GVRHSD) was conducted in Semporna, Sabah under the metrological condition in Malaysia. Drying of sample seaweed in GVRHSD reduced the moisture content from about 92.68% to 32.06% in 4 days at average solar radiation of about 600W/m 2 and mass flow rate about 0.5 kg/s. The drying kinetics was fitted with six published exponential model thin layer drying models. The models were fitted using the coefficient of determination (R 2), and root mean square error (RMSE). The result showed modified page was the best model for describe the drying behavior. In addition, the dried seaweed was used to show biosorptions of cadminium, lead, zinc and copper. Batch mode experiments were performed to determine experimental parameters affecting sorption process such as pH, initial metal ion concentration, shaking rate and biomass dosage. The Pb(II) showed Int. J. Environ. Bioener. 2013, 8(1): 42 highest sorption on pH 4, shaking rate on 250 rpm with 24.18% removal rate; at initial concentration of 100 ppm and adsorbent dosage at 4g/l the removal percentage is 28.30%. Overall, this report indicates that Kappaphycus Striatum Variety Sacol is an effective and economical sorbent for removal of heavy metals from wastewaters

Characterization of alkanes, hopanes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in tar-balls collected from the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia

The East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia faces the South China Sea and is vulnerable to oil pollution because of intense petroleum production activities in the area. The South China Sea is also a favored route for supertankers carrying crude oil to the Far East. Consequently, oil spills can occur, causing pollution and contamination in the surrounding areas. Residual oil spills stranded on coastal beaches usually end up as tar-balls. Elucidating the sources of tar-balls using a molecular marker approach is essential in assessing environmental impacts and perhaps settling legal liabilities for affected parties. This study utilizes a multimodal molecular marker approach through the use of diagnostic ratios of alkanes, hopanes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to determine the source, distribution and weathering of tar-balls. Hopane ratios (e.g., C29/C30, and ∑C31–C35/C30 ratios) were used to identify the sources of tar-balls. The weathering effects were distinguished by using alkanes, namely the unresolved complex mixture (UCM) and low molecular weight/high molecular weight (L/H) ratios. Similarly, PAHs were also used for the determination of weathering processes undergone by the tar-balls. This multimodal molecular marker gave a very strong indication of the sources of tar-balls in this study. For example, 16 out of 17 samples originated from South East Asian Crude Oil (SEACO) with one sample from Merang, Terengganu originating from North Sea Oil (Troll). The TRME-2 sample may have come from a supertanker’s ballast water discharge. The second possibility is that the tar-ball may have been transported via oceanographic currents. All ‘weathered’ sample characterizations were based on the presence of UCM and other ratios. The multimodal molecular marker approach applied in this study has enabled us to partially understand the transport behavior of tar-balls in the marine environment and has revealed insights into the weathering process of tar-balls

Distribution of PAHs and n-alkanes in Klang River surface sediments, Malaysia

Surface sediment samples were collected from five locations at the downstream of Klang River in January 2007 to examine the spatial distribution, composition, and sources of 19 parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and aliphatic hydrocarbon (n-alkanes) using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The total concentrations of the 19 PAHs in the sediments were found to range from 1304 to 2187 ng g-1 sediment. Meanwhile, total concentrations of n-alkanes ranged from 17008 to 27116 μg g-1 sediment. The concentration of n-alkanes in the sediment was significantly correlated (r = 0.991, p = 0.001) with the content of sediment organic carbon. In this study, all the sediments exhibited phenanthrene/anthracene (PHE/ANT >15) fluoranthene/(fluorantene+pyrene) (FLT/FLT+PYR 1), combustion PAHs/total PAHs (CombPAH/∑19PAH <0.3), terrigenous/aquatic ratio for hydrocarbons greater than 23. The also data showed that petrogenic and natural inputs were predominant at all the locations investigated. Multiple sources of n-alkanes and PAHs in the river sediments were also explained by low carbon preference index (CPI) values, different ratios of diploptene/∑C23-C25 n-alkanes, poor correlation between diploptene and ∑C23-C25, average chain length (ACL) of 29.54 ± 0.09, correlation between CPI and ACL (r = 0.847, p= 0.035), and high ratio of naphthalene/total PAHs

Estuary and sea-associated wetlands as final sink for organic pollutants: a case study in Sabah, Malaysia

Estuaries and sea-associated wetlands are the final destination for organic pollutants due to their chemical and physical properties. The current research studied Parai River and estuary adjacent to the southern South China Sea in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Six samples of surface sediment were taken during January 2012. The samples (top 3 cm) were extracted by Soxhlet using Dichloromethane, subjected to 2 steps of column chromatography for clean-up and fractionation followed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The results indicated that the highest concentration of alkane in a full range of even and odd carbon numbers is dominant in the estuary and sea-associated wetland. Estuaries receive the highest level of suspended materials due to continuous interaction between marine saline and riverine fresh water. The high amount of Unresolved Complex Mixture (UCM) indicated an incomplete cycle of degradation and decomposition. Terrestrial input was the most dominant natural entry to the study area where C31/C19 ratio was employed. The study concluded that sea-associated wetlands around the estuary may act as the final sink of organic pollutants in the environmen

Chemical characterization of atmospheric transported polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Peninsular Malaysia: a quarter century view

Atmosphere has long been known as free way for the transport of particle reactive chemicals far distances. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are priority pollutants in the environment where anthropogenic sources such as petroleum are studied. Chemical characterization of deposited PAH in Peninsular Malaysia showed that compounds resulting from combustion contribute more to atmospherically transported compounds than do un-combusted materials, which usually follow the lateral transport, local oil discharge and in-situ natural production. The composition and characterization of PAH demonstrated a higher abundance of parent compounds than of alkyl substitutes. These include pyrene, benzo(e)pyrene, benzo(a)pyrene and benzo(k)fluorenthene. Parent compounds represent a higher proportion of combusted organic materials as well as of petroleum that transfers via atmospheric movement rather than laterally via, for example, rivers and run-off discharges. Diagnostic chemical ratios of chemical compounds such as phenantherene to antheracene and fluorenthene to pyrene showed that combusted materials are dominant that are transferred by atmosphere movement, either over short or long distances, in the studied area