2024/05/14 by Rory P. Downham, Benedict Gannon, Diana Catalina Palacio Lozano +3 · 1 voice
Chemistry · Environmental Science · #Microbial bioremediation and biosurfactants #Petroleum Processing and Analysis #Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
paper · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134605
openalex publication_date 2024/05/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heteroatom-containing analogues, constitute an important environmental contaminant class. For decades, limited numbers of priority PAHs have been routinely targeted in pollution investigations, however, there is growing awareness for the potential occurrence of thousands of PACs in the environment. In this study, untargeted Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry was used for the molecular characterisation of PACs in a sediment core from Chiswick Ait, in the River Thames, London, UK. Using complex mixture analysis approaches, including aromaticity index calculations, the number of molecular PAC components was determined for eight core depths, extending back to the 1930s. A maximum of 1676 molecular compositions representing PACs was detected at the depth corresponding to the 1950s, and a decline in PAC numbers was observed up the core. A case linking the PACs to London's coal consumption history is presented, alongside other possible sources, with some data features indicating pyrogenic origins. The overall core profile trend in PAC components, including compounds with oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, and chlorine atoms, is shown to broadly correspond to the 16 priority PAH concentration profile trend previously determined for this core. These findings have implications for other industry-impacted environments.