Fingerprint analysis reveals sources of petroleum hydrocarbons in soils of different geographical oilfields of China and its ecological assessment

Abstract

The distribution and characteristics of petroleum in three different geographic oilfields in China: Shengli Oilfield (SL), Nanyang Oilfield (NY), and Yanchang Oilfield (YC) were investigated. The average concentration of the total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) conformed to be in the following law: SL Oilfield > NY Oilfield > YC Oilfield. Fingerprint analysis on the petroleum contamination level and source was conducted by the geochemical indices of n-alkanes and PAHs, such as low to high molecular weight (LMW/HMW) hydrocarbons, n-alkanes/pristine or phytane (C17/ Pr, C18/Ph), and ratio of anthracene/ (anthracene + phenanthrene) [Ant/(Ant + Phe)]. Soils adjacent to working well oils indicated new petroleum input with higher ratio of low to high molecular weight (LMW/HMW) hydrocarbons. The oil contamination occurred in the grassland soils might result of rainfall runoff. Petroleum source, petroleum combustion source, and biomass combustion were dominant PAHs origination of soils collected from oil exploitation area, petrochemical-related sites, farmland and grassland, respectively. The suggestive petroleum control strategies were proposed in each oilfield soils. Ecological potential risk of PAHs was assessed according to the toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) of seven carcinogenic PAHs. The results showed that high, medium, and low ecological risk presented in petro-related area, grassland soils, and farmland soils, respectively. High ecological risk was persistent in abandoned oil well areas over abandoned time of 15 years, and basically stable after 5 years. This study can provide a critical insight to ecological risk management and source control of the petroleum contamination.

Spatial Distribution, Sources, Air–Soil Exchange, and Health Risks of Parent PAHs and Derivative-Alkylated PAHs in Different Functional Areas of an Oilfield Area in the Yellow River Delta, North China

“…The Yellow River Delta (YRD, 36 • 55 ~38 • 10 N, 118 • 07 ~119 • 10 E) is situated in the northeast of Shandong Province, China, with a total area of about 5400 km 2 . The YRD region is rich in oil resources and is the main oil-producing region of the Shengli oilfield.…”

“…The environmental pollution caused by oil extraction and utilization has become a major environmental issue [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Many polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) are released by oil extraction activities into the environment, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alkylated PAHs (APAHs) [ 4 , 5 , 6 ].…”

“…A study in the Shengli oilfield reported that the health risk caused by PAHs in the surrounding soil of an oil well rose with increasing oil well extraction time [ 5 ]. The soil from several oilfields [ 2 ] revealed the proportion of lower molecular weight PAHs in the soil near the oil well was relatively high, which indicates oil leakage of ground crude oil. In addition to the direct pollution from oil extraction, soils around an oilfield area are also vulnerable to PAHs emitted by heavy transportation [ 5 , 16 ].…”

The Shaping of Daqing: Borderless Interactions between Oil and Urban Areas

“…The existing body of knowledge is rich in analyses of the dispersion [27,28], and the effects of pollutants [29,30]. Despite the numerous industrial disasters and their related pollution in cities, their impacts on public health and the environment remain understudied [31].…”

Quantitative structure-activity relationship model development for estimating the predicted No-effect concentration of petroleum hydrocarbon and derivatives in the ecological risk assessment

“…During the long-term exploration of oilfields and rapid development of petroleum industry, a wide variety of PHDs with high risks are produced and released into the adjacent environments [ [1] , [2] , [3] ]. It is estimated that the concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) was 1.83 × 10 5 mg/kg in the soils and sediments around the productive oilfields [ 4 , 5 ], which exceeded the Soil environmental quality-Risk control standard of TPHs for development land (826 mg/kg) developed by Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China by 221 times [ 6 ]. A large number of PHDs are easily accumulated in organisms from the polluted environments, and pose potential high risks to high trophic organisms [ 7 , 8 ] and even human [ [9] , [10] , [11] ] through biomagnification [ 12 ], resulting in the decline of ecosystem services function [ 13 ] and the disrupt of the ecological mechanism [ 14 ].…”