Distribution of fragrances and PAHs in the surface seawater of the Sicily Channel, Central Mediterranean

Marco Vecchiato; Clara Turetta; Bernardo Patti; Carlo Barbante; Rossano Piazza; Tiziano Bonato; Andrea Gambaro

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.080

Distribution of fragrances and PAHs in the surface seawater of the Sicily Channel, Central Mediterranean

Sci Total Environ. 2018 Sep 1:634:983-989. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.080. Epub 2018 Apr 11.

Authors

Marco Vecchiato¹, Clara Turetta², Bernardo Patti³, Carlo Barbante⁴, Rossano Piazza⁴, Tiziano Bonato⁵, Andrea Gambaro⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (DAIS), Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venezia-Mestre, Venice, Italy. Electronic address: vecchiato@unive.it.
² Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes (IDPA-CNR), Via Torino 155, 30172 Venezia-Mestre, Venice, Italy.
³ Institute for Marine and Coastal Environment (IAMC-CNR), Detached Unit of Capo Granitola, via del mare 3, Campobello di Mazara, 91021, Trapani, Italy.
⁴ Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (DAIS), Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venezia-Mestre, Venice, Italy; Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes (IDPA-CNR), Via Torino 155, 30172 Venezia-Mestre, Venice, Italy.
⁵ Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (DAIS), Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venezia-Mestre, Venice, Italy; Società Estense Servizi Ambientali (S.E.S.A. S.p.A.), Via Comuna 5/B, 35042 Este, PD, Italy.

PMID: 29660892
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.080

Abstract

The Mediterranean Sea is highly influenced by several anthropic pressures, including different kinds of organic pollutants. Fragrance Materials (FMs) and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in the surface seawater of the Sicily Channel in offshore and coastal areas. Total concentrations of FMs and PAHs resulted respectively up to 112ngL^-1 and 43ngL^-1, with similar distributions of both classes of analytes. Low values were detected in some coastal samples, due to the upwelling of deep and unpolluted waters, while the presence of gyres probably accumulates contaminants in offshore areas. Confirming previous works, the allergenic and oestrogenic Salicylates generally resulted the most abundant FMs and diagnostic ratios indicated combustion processes as the sources of PAHs. The coupling of the well-known PAHs with a new class of Personal Care Products (PCPs) helped the identification of the major environmental drivers: the results highlighted the role of mesoscale hydrodynamics and suggested long-range atmospheric transport as key factors. The first detection of the selected FMs in open sea areas supports the hypothesis of their environmental persistence.

Keywords: Fragrance Materials (FMs); Mediterranean; Personal Care Products (PCPs); Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs); Seawater.