Monitoring of linear alkyl benzenes (LABs) in riverine and estuarine sediments in Malaysia

Najat Masood; Sadeq A A Alkhadher; Sami M Magam; Normala Halimoon; Abdulmohsen Alsukaibi; Mohamad Pauzi Zakaria; Vahab Vaezzadeh; Mehrzad Keshavarzifard; Sawsan Maisara; Mohammed Khaled Bin Break

doi:10.1007/s10653-021-01088-6

Monitoring of linear alkyl benzenes (LABs) in riverine and estuarine sediments in Malaysia

Environ Geochem Health. 2022 Oct;44(10):3687-3702. doi: 10.1007/s10653-021-01088-6. Epub 2021 Oct 25.

Authors

Najat Masood^{1

2}, Sadeq A A Alkhadher^{3

4}, Sami M Magam^{5

6}, Normala Halimoon⁷, Abdulmohsen Alsukaibi⁸, Mohamad Pauzi Zakaria⁹, Vahab Vaezzadeh^{10

11}, Mehrzad Keshavarzifard¹², Sawsan Maisara⁸, Mohammed Khaled Bin Break¹³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Marine Chemistry and Pollution, Faculty of Marine Science and Environment, Hodeidah University, Hodeidah City, Yemen. ne.ebrahim@uoh.edu.sa.
² Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Hail, Hail City, Saudi Arabia. ne.ebrahim@uoh.edu.sa.
³ Micro-pollutant Research Centre (MPRC), Cluster of Water and Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Civil Engineering & Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400, Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia.
⁴ Yemen Standardization, Metrology and Quality Control Organization (YSMQ), Sana'a, Yemen.
⁵ Department of Marine Chemistry and Pollution, Faculty of Marine Science and Environment, Hodeidah University, Hodeidah City, Yemen.
⁶ Basic Science Department, Preparatory Year, University of Ha'il, 1560, Hail City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Environmental Forensics Laboratory, Faculty of Environmental Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁸ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Hail, Hail City, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES), University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
¹⁰ State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong-Hong Kong Macao Joint Laboratory for Environmental Pollution and Control, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
¹¹ CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
¹² Shrimp Research Center, Iranian Fisheries Sciences Research Institute,, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Bushehr, 75169-89177, Iran.
¹³ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Hail, Hail, 81411, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 34697724
DOI: 10.1007/s10653-021-01088-6

Abstract

The aim of this a pioneering research is to investigate linear alkylbenzenes (LABs) as biomarkers of sewage pollution in sediments collected from four rivers and estuaries of the south and east of Peninsular Malaysia. The sediment samples went through soxhlet extraction, two-step column chromatography purification, fractionation and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) with multivariate linear regression (MLR) was used as well for source apportionment of LABs. The results of this study showed that total LAB concentration was 36-1196 ng g^-1dw. The internal to external isomer ratios (I/E ratio) of LABs were from 0.56 to 3.12 indicated release of raw sewage and primary and secondary effluents into the environment of south and east of Peninsular Malaysia. Our research supported that continuous monitoring of sewage pollution to limit the environmental pollution in riverine and estuarine ecosystem.

Keywords: Detergent; Internal over external isomers ratio; Linear alkylbenzenes; Pollution; Sewage.

MeSH terms

Benzene / analysis
Benzene Derivatives / analysis
Biomarkers
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Geologic Sediments* / chemistry
Malaysia
Rivers
Sewage / chemistry
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Benzene Derivatives
Biomarkers
Sewage
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Benzene

Grants and funding

6379005/Universiti Putra Malaysia