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An aspect of coastal pollution — The combined effect of detergent and oil at sea on sea spray composition

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Abstract

One of the consequences of aerosol generation from the sea surface consists of atmospheric contamination due to the transfer of marine pollutants into the air.

Our preliminary investigation deals with the water-to-air transfer of anionic detergents from polluted sea surfaces in the presence of oil slicks at the air-water boundary.

Pollutant emissions were studied by reproducing marine spray in the laboratory. A simple technique was used to simulate the natural formation of spray droplets from white-cap bubbles bursting at the sea surface. Anionic detergents dissolved in seawater were found to increase the production of marine aerosol. They were found to concentrate and enrich up to one hundred times their concentration with respect to seawater.

Under the same experimental conditions, mm-thick oil slicks were found to reduce both the amount of spray and that of the surfactant transferred to the aerosol. This reducing effect due to the slicks, changes apparently with surfactant concentration and type of oil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Esso Italiana - Research Laboratory, Piazzale dell' Industria, 46, 00144, Rome - Fiumicino, Italy

    M. Fontana

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  1. M. Fontana
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Fontana, M. An aspect of coastal pollution — The combined effect of detergent and oil at sea on sea spray composition. Water Air Soil Pollut 5, 269–280 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00158342

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00158342

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