Title |
Polyaromatic hydrocarbon exposure: an ecological impact ambiguity
|
---|---|
Published in |
Environmental Science and Pollution Research, March 2013
|
DOI | 10.1007/s11356-013-1620-2 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Andrew Ball, Adam Truskewycz |
Abstract |
Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent a fraction of petroleum hydrocarbons and are currently one of the foremost sources of generating energy in today's contemporary society. However, evidence highlighted in this review show that PAH pollution, as a result of oil spills, hazardous PAH-contaminated working environments and technologies which do not efficiently utilise fuels, as well as natural sources of emissions (e.g. forest fires) may have significant health implications for all taxa. The extent of damage to organisms from PAH exposure is dependent on numerous factors including degree and type of PAH exposure, nature of the environment contaminated (i.e. terrestrial or aquatic), the ability of an organism to relocate to pristine environments, type and sensitivity of organism to specific hydrocarbon fractions and ability of the organism to metabolise different PAH fractions. The review highlights the fact that studies on the potential damage of PAHs should be carried out using mixtures of hydrocarbons as opposed to individual hydrocarbon fractions due to the scarcity of individual fractions being a sole contaminant. Furthermore, potential damage of PAH-contaminated sites should be assessed using an entire ecological impact outlook of the affected area. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 3 | 2% |
United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
Brazil | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 163 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 30 | 18% |
Student > Master | 30 | 18% |
Student > Bachelor | 21 | 13% |
Researcher | 18 | 11% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 10 | 6% |
Other | 22 | 13% |
Unknown | 37 | 22% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 42 | 25% |
Environmental Science | 35 | 21% |
Chemistry | 11 | 7% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 9 | 5% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 6 | 4% |
Other | 22 | 13% |
Unknown | 43 | 26% |