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Monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a produced water disposal area in the Potiguar Basin, Brazilian equatorial margin

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Abstract

The Potiguar Basin has oil and gas production fields offshore and onshore. All treated produced water (PW) from these fields is discharged through submarine outfalls. Although polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are minor constituents of PW, their input into the marine ecosystem is environmentally critical due to potential ecological hazards. A 2-year monitoring program was conducted in the vicinity of the outfalls to evaluate PAH bioaccumulation in marine life from PW discharges. The study was performed using transplanted bivalves Crassostrea brasiliana and semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) to measure PAH concentrations via bioaccumulation and in seawater. The bioaccumulation of PAH in transplanted bivalves reached up to 1105 ng g−1 in the vicinity of the monitored outfall. Significantly lower PAH concentrations were found in the reference area in comparison to the studied area around the outfalls. Time-integrated PAH concentrations in seawater ranged from 38 to 0.3 ng L−1 near the outfalls and from 10 ng L−1 to not detected in the reference area. Both measurement techniques were found to be effective for determining a gradient of descending PAH concentrations from the outfalls. In addition, this study also evaluated the bioavailability of PAH for local marine biota and provided information about the influence of PW discharges on the water quality of marine ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financed and coordinated by Petrobras. We would like to thank Alexandre Peruchi, Tatiana Heid Furley (Aplysia), Leandro Franco Macena de Araujo, Ivanil Ribeiro Cruz, and Osvaldo Natalin Junior (Petrobras) for their contributions to the success of this work. We would also like to acknowledge the crew and divers of the Piracicaba Boat and Captain Carvalho for their assistance during sampling.

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Author notes

  1. Rafael André Lourenço

    Present address: Instituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de São Paulo (IOUSP), Praça do Oceanográfico191, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC-Rio), Rua Marques de São Vicente, 225, 22451-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Fábio Francisco de Oliveira, Adriana Haddad Nudi & Ângela de Luca Rebello Wagener

  2. Centro de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Leopoldo Miguez de Mello (Petrobras), Av. Horácio de Macedo, 950, 21941-915, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    João Maximino de Souza, Maria de Fátima Guadalupe Meniconi & Eleine Francioni

Authors
  1. Rafael André Lourenço
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  2. Fábio Francisco de Oliveira
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  3. João Maximino de Souza
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  4. Adriana Haddad Nudi
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  6. Maria de Fátima Guadalupe Meniconi
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  7. Eleine Francioni
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Correspondence to Rafael André Lourenço.

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Responsible editor: Hongwen Sun

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ESM 1

Table S1: Latitude and longitude coordinates of sampling points. Table S2: PAH concentrations in the produced water (mean) released through the ocean outfall and in the tissues of the C. brasiliana deployed at the sampling points EM-1, EM-2, EM-3, EM-4, GA-1 and GA-2. Table S2 - Continuation: PAH concentrations in the produced water released through the ocean outfall and in the tissues of the C. brasiliana that were deployed at the sampling points EM-1, EM-2, EM-3, EM-4, GA-1 and GA-2. Table S3: PAH concentrations in the SPMD deployed at sampling points EM-1, EM-2, EM-3, EM-4, GA-1 and GA-2. Table S3 - Continuation: PAH concentrations in the SPMD deployed at sampling points EM-1, EM-2, EM-3, EM-4, GA-1 and GA-2. Table S4: Estimated seawater concentrations based on the C. brasiliana data from sampling points EM-1, EM-2, EM-3, EM-4, GA-1 and GA-2. Table S5: PAH detection limits for bivalves and SPMD. (DOC 145 kb)

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Lourenço, R.A., de Oliveira, F.F., de Souza, J.M. et al. Monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a produced water disposal area in the Potiguar Basin, Brazilian equatorial margin. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 17113–17122 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6903-y

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