Affiliations 

  • 1 Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, K. Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia. pang.sy@umt.edu.my
  • 2 Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, K. Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
  • 3 School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, W. Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 5 Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2022 Mar;29(11):15849-15862.
PMID: 34636003 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-16762-6

Abstract

Surface sediments along the Southern Terengganu coast (≤7 km from the coast) were analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The concentrations of 16 USEPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ΣPAH16) ranged from 2.59 to 155 ng g-1 and their respective alkylated ranged between 8.80 and 24.90 ng g-1. Traces of acephenanthrylene, benzo[c]phenanthrene, thiophenic PAH, and benzonaphthofuran were identified. PAH diagnostic ratios and cross-plots revealed that these sedimentary PAH compounds are derived mainly from pyrogenic sources, primarily from biomass burning and petroleum combustion residues with minor petrogenic input. The high correlations between pyrogenic PAHs to total PAHs (r >0.73, p <0.5), and the Bap/Bep ratio to total PAHs (r = 0.88, p <0.5), suggest that atmospheric deposition and urban runoff are the main deposition pathways. The concentrations of the PAHs in the southern South China Sea fall in the moderate contamination range of 100-1000 ng g-1.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.