Detection of Odor Compounds in Deep-sea Sediment Cores from Sagami Bay and Izu-Bonin Trench using Gas Chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O)

The usage of synthetic fragrances which contained in pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) have been increasing in Japan, and environmental discharge of those chemicals have also been increasing. This study tried to detect odor compounds in sediment core samples collected from 1 , 400 and 9 , 200 m water depths, in Sagami Bay and Izu-Bonin Trench, Japan. Odor activities in sediment core samples were detected by Gas Chromatography-Olfactometry (GC-O) which detects odor chemicals using human olfaction. It is the first report which analyzed the odor activities in deep-sea sediments. By comparing odor activities found in deeper and surface core samples, six odor compounds were tentatively defined as anthropogenic source. It is required to conduct the novel research topic of “ environmental risk assessment for odor compounds ” . The GC-O could be useful technique to find the emerging chemicals on the research fields of environmental chemistry.