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Coal and deodorizer residues in marine sediments—contaminants or pollutants?
Author(s) -
Chapman Peter M.,
Downie James,
Maynard Allan,
Taylor Laura A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620150505
Subject(s) - environmental chemistry , contamination , pollutant , sewage , environmental science , pollution , sediment , coal , sewage sludge , water pollution , chemistry , environmental engineering , geology , ecology , biology , paleontology , organic chemistry
Sediment studies around the diffuser of a relatively untreated major marine municipal sewage discharge indicated that 1,4‐dichlorobenzene (1,4‐DCB) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were among the contaminants of concern. Subsequent investigations revealed that elevated PAH concentrations were due to the shipwreck of a collier in the 1890s and were apparently not bioavailable. Coal is a common contaminant in marine and freshwater sediments and may be responsible, in some cases, for high PAH contaminant concentrations not resulting in pollution (i.e., biological effects) and can also affect total organic carbon measurements and normalizations. Little information exists regarding 1,4‐DCB, whose main source to sewage appears to be toilet block deodorizers and which appears to be a useful marker of the extent of contamination for untreated sewage discharges. Correlative analyses suggest it is a pollutant, but this remains to be confirmed by experimental testing.