TY - JOUR
T1 - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) cycling and fates in Galveston Bay, Texas, USA
AU - Rowe, Gilbert T.
AU - Fernando, Harshica
AU - Elferink, Cornelis
AU - Ansari, G. A.Shakeel
AU - Sullivan, John
AU - Heathman, Thomas
AU - Quigg, Antonietta
AU - Croisant, Sharon Petronella
AU - Wade, Terry L.
AU - Santschi, Peter H.
N1 - Funding Information:
This summary of PAH concentrations and fluxes was initiated with support from the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) grant entitled "Gulf Coast Health Alliance: health risks related to the Macondo Spill (GCHARMS)", Grant Number: 5U19ES020676. It provided funding to co-authors GTR, HF, CE, SA, JS, TH, and SP. TW, PS and AQ are being supported by a grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GOMRI) to support the ADDOMEx and ADDOMEx-2 consortia research (Aggregation and Degradation of Dispersants and Oil by Microbial Exopolymers). Data from ADDOMEx/ADDOMEx-2 is publicly available through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC; https:// gulfresearchinitiative.org/); however, no new data was deposited in relation to the current study. TW's participation on this publication was made possible, in part, by NIH grant P42 ES027704. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the grantee and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. Further, the NIH does not endorse the purchase of any commercial products or services mentioned in the publication. TW's participation on this publication was made possible, in part, by NIH grant P42 ES027704. This research was partially funded by Texas General Land Office grant number 20-057-000-B908 to AQ. None of the authors have received salary for preparing this manuscript from the above sources. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the 'author contributions' section.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Rowe et al.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - The cycling and fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is not well understood in estuarine systems. It is critical now more than ever given the increased ecosystem pressures on these critical coastal habitats. A budget of PAHs and cycling has been created for Galveston Bay (Texas) in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, an estuary surrounded by 30- 50% of the US capacity of oil refineries and chemical industry. We estimate that approximately 3 to 4 mt per year of pyrogenic PAHs are introduced to Galveston Bay via gaseous exchange from the atmosphere (ca. 2 mt/year) in addition to numerous spills of petrogenic PAHs from oil and gas operations (ca. 1.0 to 1.9 mt/year). PAHs are cycled through and stored in the biota, and ca. 20 to 30% of the total (0.8 to 1.5 mt per year) are estimated to be buried in the sediments. Oysters concentrate PAHs to levels above their surroundings (water and sediments) and contain substantially greater concentrations than other fish catch (shrimp, blue crabs and fin fish). Smaller organisms (infaunal invertebrates, phytoplankton and zooplankton) might also retain a significant fraction of the total, but direct evidence for this is lacking. The amount of PAHs delivered to humans in seafood, based on reported landings, is trivially small compared to the total inputs, sediment accumulation and other possible fates (metabolic remineralization, export in tides, etc.), which remain poorly known. The generally higher concentrations in biota from Galveston Bay compared to other coastal habitats can be attributed to both intermittent spills of gas and oil and the bay's close proximity to high production of pyrogenic PAHs within the urban industrial complex of the city of Houston as well as periodic flood events that transport PAHs from land surfaces to the Bay.
AB - The cycling and fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is not well understood in estuarine systems. It is critical now more than ever given the increased ecosystem pressures on these critical coastal habitats. A budget of PAHs and cycling has been created for Galveston Bay (Texas) in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, an estuary surrounded by 30- 50% of the US capacity of oil refineries and chemical industry. We estimate that approximately 3 to 4 mt per year of pyrogenic PAHs are introduced to Galveston Bay via gaseous exchange from the atmosphere (ca. 2 mt/year) in addition to numerous spills of petrogenic PAHs from oil and gas operations (ca. 1.0 to 1.9 mt/year). PAHs are cycled through and stored in the biota, and ca. 20 to 30% of the total (0.8 to 1.5 mt per year) are estimated to be buried in the sediments. Oysters concentrate PAHs to levels above their surroundings (water and sediments) and contain substantially greater concentrations than other fish catch (shrimp, blue crabs and fin fish). Smaller organisms (infaunal invertebrates, phytoplankton and zooplankton) might also retain a significant fraction of the total, but direct evidence for this is lacking. The amount of PAHs delivered to humans in seafood, based on reported landings, is trivially small compared to the total inputs, sediment accumulation and other possible fates (metabolic remineralization, export in tides, etc.), which remain poorly known. The generally higher concentrations in biota from Galveston Bay compared to other coastal habitats can be attributed to both intermittent spills of gas and oil and the bay's close proximity to high production of pyrogenic PAHs within the urban industrial complex of the city of Houston as well as periodic flood events that transport PAHs from land surfaces to the Bay.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0243734
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0243734
M3 - Article
C2 - 33370322
AN - SCOPUS:85099106664
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 15
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
IS - 12 December
M1 - e0243734
ER -