Grantee Research Project Results

2003 Progress Report: Resolving the Unresolved Complex Mixture in Petroleum Residues in Environmental Matrices

EPA Grant Number: R830393
Title: Resolving the Unresolved Complex Mixture in Petroleum Residues in Environmental Matrices
Investigators: Reddy, Christopher M.
Institution: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: September 1, 2002 through August 31, 2004
Project Period Covered by this Report: September 1, 2002 through August 31, 2003
Project Amount: $224,955
RFA: Futures Research in Natural Sciences (2001) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Hazardous Waste/Remediation , Land and Waste Management

Objective:

The objective of this research project is to use comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) to study the unresolved complex mixture of petroleum hydrocarbons in environmental samples.

Progress Summary:

The greatest emphasis has been placed on two local sites in Cape Cod, MA, where studies on the long-term fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in salt marsh sediments are underway. The barge Florida spilled approximately 700,000 liters of diesel fuel on September 16, 1969, and marsh sediments near Wild Harbor were severely impacted. A sediment core collected in 2000 revealed that oil still persists at sediment depths of 8 to 20 cm. On October 9, 1974, the barge Bouchard 65 spilled an undetermined amount of its cargo (also diesel fuel) and contaminated Winsor Cove, which is located about 4 km north of Wild Harbor. GC x GC/flame ionization detector analysis has revealed that the hydrocarbon composition at these two sites is quite different (although traditional one-dimensional gas chromatography indicates a very similar fingerprint). Hence, GC x GC has provided increased resolution that was previously unattainable and can allow for more refined studies on weathering processes. We believe that the environmental conditions at the two sites have lead to these differences. Significant amounts of naphthalenes and larger aromatics remain at the Wild Harbor site because the oil resides in buried anoxic sediments and are not fully exposed to environmental weathering (mainly water washing). At the Winsor cove site, aromatics are greatly reduced in concentration because the oil remained in the near-surface sediments, where water washing likely has occurred. At both sites, branched and cyclic alkanes comprise the majority of the remaining petroleum hydrocarbons. The n-alkanes at both locations have been biodegraded.

Future Activities:

Future efforts will focus on analyzing some additional field samples, but mainly, we will analyze laboratory-based microbial degradation cultures. A significant amount of time will be devoted to interpreting the results and preparing several manuscripts on this work.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 23 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

petroleum hydrocarbons, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography, GC, weathering., RFA, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Scientific Discipline, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, Waste, Water, Hazardous, Fate & Transport, chemical mixtures, Environmental Chemistry, Contaminated Sediments, Hazardous Waste, Ecology and Ecosystems, biogeochemical partitioning, environmental transport and fate, hydrocarbons, hazardous organic substances, contaminated sediment, fate and transport , analytical models, chemical contaminants, fate, unresolved complex mixture, biodegradation, complex mixtures, fate and transport, molecular biology, chemical transport, chemical kinetics, contaminated soils, hazardous chemicals

Relevant Websites:

http://www.whoi.edu/science/MCG/dept/personnel/scientist_reddy.html Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

Final Report