![]() ![]() Toxicity equivalent (TEQ) method was used to assess the ecotoxicological risk at a specific site. In addition, an Ant/(Phe + Ant), 0.1 implies a petroleum source. 0.5 indicates combustion of biomass and coal. Based on the PAH isomer ratios in source identification compiled by Yunker et al, the Fla/(Fla + Pyr) ratio, 0.4 indicates petroleum input as a source 0.4–0.5 indicates petroleum (liquid fossil fuel, vehicle and crude oil) and. ![]() The compounds involved in each ratio have the same molar mass, so it is assumed they have similar physicochemical properties. These ratios distinguish PAH pollution originating from petroleum products, petroleum combustion and biomass or coal burning, such as Ant/ (Phn Ant), Fla/(Pyr Fla), InP/(InP BghiP). PAH diagnostic ratios have recently come into common use as a tool for identifying and assessing pollution sources. The average recoveries of PAHs were 85–115% for 10 soil samples varying with the physicochemical properties of individual PAH. The LOD for PAHs ranged from 10 to 500 pg g 2 1. Peaks that were smaller than 3 times the signal-to-noise ratio were not considered. Limits of detection (LOD) were determined as signals 3 times the background signal. Each sample was analyzed in triplicate unless otherwise stated. Standard solutions of PAHs were run at the beginning of sample analysis to determine the relative response factors and evaluate peak resolution. A solvent blank and matrix blank were analyzed through the entire procedure prior to and after every 10 samples. The spike level of each PAH was approximately 50–500 m g kg 2 1. were naphthalene (Nap), acenaphthylene (Acy), acenaphthene (Ace), fluorene (Flr), phenanthrene (Phn), anthracene (Ant), fluoranthene (Fla), pyrene (Pyr), benzanthracene (BaA), chrysene (Chy), benzofluoranthene (BbF), benzofluoranthene (BkF), benzopyrene (BaP), dibenzanthracene (DibA), benzoperylene (BghiP) and indenopyrene (InP). “So we estimate about 5 tons (4.5 metric tons) of plastic being brought to Midway every year just by adult albatross feeding it to their chicks,” Goodale said. “Not only are our beaches getting it, but also our albatross will bring it and feed it to their chicks,” Goodale said.Īlbatross spend much of their lives at sea feeding and flying thousands of miles across the oceans before returning to Midway each year to lay eggs and raise their young. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Kelly Goodale lives and works on Midway, the site of a decisive World War II battle, and said the plastic that washes ashore there each year is just part of the problem. “The estimates are that there’s about 57,000 pounds of marine debris that washes ashore within this part of the archipelago annually,” Clark said. The debris ranges from tiny microplastics that nearly every animal in this marine ecosystem ingests to huge fishing nets that gather plants, animals and other debris while bulldozing across fragile coral reefs. “The Hawaiians call it a place of abundance, or aina momona.”īut circulating currents now bring an abundance of plastic and other trash from all around the Pacific Rim to Hawaii’s beaches. “Papahanaumokuakea is both a biologically rich and culturally sacred place,” Clark said. Papahanaumokuakea, which quadrupled in size under President Barack Obama in 2016, is the world’s largest marine conservation area and was inscribed in 2010 as a UNESCO mixed World Heritage site. Sharp plastic pieces can also perforate their intestines and esophagus. They “fill their bellies up with plastics instead of food and eventually either choke or just don’t have enough room for actual nourishment and perish.” “There isn’t a bird that doesn’t have some (plastic),” said Athline Clark, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s superintendent for Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which Midway is part of. Bottle caps, toothbrushes and cigarette lighters sit in the centers of their feathery carcasses. Midway is littered with bird skeletons that have brightly colored plastic protruding from their decomposing bellies. A recent analysis found that the patch is accumulating debris at a faster rate than scientists previously thought. The Hawaiian Islands act like a comb that gathers debris as it floats across the Pacific. But Midway is also at the center of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a vast area of floating plastic collected by circulating oceanic currents. ![]()
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