Maciel Daniele Claudino, de Souza José Roberto Botelho, Taniguchi Satie, Bícego Márcia Caruso, Schettini Carlos Augusto França, Zanardi-Lamardo Eliete
Grupo de Pesquisa sobre Compostos Orgânicos em Ecossistemas Costeiros e Marinhos (OrganoMAR), Departamento de Oceanografia da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. Av. Arquitetura, s/n, 50740-550 Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
Laboratório de Comunidades Marinhas (Lacmar), Departamento de Zoologia da da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. Avenida Professor Moraes Rego 1235, 50670-901 Recife, Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2016 Dec 15;113(1-2):566-571. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.048. Epub 2016 Aug 29.
Estuaries generally act as sediment traps and may retain a range of contaminants associated to this matrix. Aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHs) were investigated in Capibaribe Estuarine System and adjacent shelf, Northeast of Brazil, to evaluate the contamination and to better understand its functionality related to the coast. Fourteen sediment samples were analyzed, using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. Total AHs concentrations ranged from 7.5 to 190.3μgg and n-alkanes ranged from below detection limit (<DL) to 9.47μgg. The highest concentrations were in the upper portion of the estuary, which receives domestic and industrial effluents. The observed UCM and other geochemical markers, indicated contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons. The concentration decrease (about 90%) towards the adjacent shelf suggested an estuarine high retention capacity but dilution and degradation processes cannot be neglected. Similar AHs characteristics reported in sediments from the adjacent shelf suggested that this system may also export contaminants.
