Source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in small craft harbor (SCH) surficial sediments in Nova Scotia, Canada

Multiple source apportionment approaches were employed to investigate PAH sources which contribute to small craft harbor (SCH) sediments in Nova Scotia (NS), Canada. A total of 580 sediment samples were analyzed using PAH diagnostic ratios, Unmix Optimum receptor modeling, and by assessment of the c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The Science of the total environment Vol. 691; pp. 528 - 537
Main Authors:	Davis, Emily, Walker, Tony R., Adams, Michelle, Willis, Rob, Norris, Gary A., Henry, Ronald C.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Netherlands Elsevier B.V 15-11-2019
Subjects:	Multivariate receptor modeling PAH diagnostic ratios Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) Small craft harbor (SCH) sediments Source apportionment Unmix Optimum Small craft harbor (SCH) sediments Multivariate receptor modeling Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) Unmix Optimum PAH diagnostic ratios Source apportionment
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Summary:	Multiple source apportionment approaches were employed to investigate PAH sources which contribute to small craft harbor (SCH) sediments in Nova Scotia (NS), Canada. A total of 580 sediment samples were analyzed using PAH diagnostic ratios, Unmix Optimum receptor modeling, and by assessment of the composition of the PAH profile. PAH diagnostic ratios suggest PAHs are primarily of pyrogenic (thermal) origin, while UnmixO modeling identifies four individual sources which best describe surficial sediments and suggests contributions from both pyrogenic and petrogenic origins. These include coal combustion, automobile exhaust, and biomass incineration. PAH profile assessment determined an overwhelming contribution of high molecular weight PAHs, which exhibited a strong correlation with total PAH concentrations. [Display omitted] •Sediment was assessed for source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons•Multiple lines of evidence investigated PAH sources from NS harbor sediments•US EPA Unmix Optimum modeling was applied to reveal potential PAH sources•PAHs produced from pyrogenic processes appear as the dominating source•Results suggest terrestrial activities greatly contribute PAHs to sediment
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0048-9697 1879-1026
DOI:	10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.114