Forensic environmental geochemistry to reveal the extent, characteristics, and fate of waxy tarballs spilled over the northeast coast of Brazil in 2022
Adriana P. Nascimento , Rufino Neto A. Azevedo , Marília Gabriela A. Pereira , Danielle M.M. Franco , Boniek G. Vaz , André H.B. Oliveira , Jandyson M. Santos , Rivelino M. Cavalcante , Laercio L. Martins
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Abstract
This work applied the forensic environmental geochemistry assessment to evaluate the tarballs that contaminated the coast of Brazil in late 2022. Accordingly, saturated and aromatic biomarkers were analyzed by gas chromatography and acidic polar compounds by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) of 16 tarball samples from beaches of five Brazilian states. All samples presented waxy characteristics and are from the same source, highlighting the large coast extension affected by this event (∼3,000 km). However, they have distinct sources from the spilled oils stranded on the Brazilian coast in 2019 and early 2022, as they present distinct fingerprints related to the distribution of resistant biomarkers, including the triaromatic steroids, tricyclic and pentacyclic terpanes, and steranes, which mirrors in significantly different diagnostic ratios. Biomarkers indicate their characteristics of mature and marine crude oils (not fuel). Furthermore, all samples presented low weathering levels, indicating their fate as a high-persistence contaminant in the environment. These tarballs likely originated from the washing processes of ship tanks and persisted drifting on the sea until they arrived on the Brazilian coast.
期刊介绍：
Marine Environmental Research publishes original research papers on chemical, physical, and biological interactions in the oceans and coastal waters. The journal serves as a forum for new information on biology, chemistry, and toxicology and syntheses that advance understanding of marine environmental processes.
Submission of multidisciplinary studies is encouraged. Studies that utilize experimental approaches to clarify the roles of anthropogenic and natural causes of changes in marine ecosystems are especially welcome, as are those studies that represent new developments of a theoretical or conceptual aspect of marine science. All papers published in this journal are reviewed by qualified peers prior to acceptance and publication. Examples of topics considered to be appropriate for the journal include, but are not limited to, the following:
– The extent, persistence, and consequences of change and the recovery from such change in natural marine systems
– The biochemical, physiological, and ecological consequences of contaminants to marine organisms and ecosystems
– The biogeochemistry of naturally occurring and anthropogenic substances
– Models that describe and predict the above processes
– Monitoring studies, to the extent that their results provide new information on functional processes
– Methodological papers describing improved quantitative techniques for the marine sciences.
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