A càrrec de Michael Anthony KRUGE (Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Montclair State University, New Jersey, EUA)
Organitzat conjuntament CSIC-UB

Data: 09/11/2010
Hora: 12:00
Lloc: Sala d'actes de l'Institut Jaume Almera

Descripció:
For over a century the Gowanus Canal served to transport bulk materials and was the site of intensive industrial activity. It also received contaminants from the surrounding urban area. We demonstrate alternative methods for the characterization of the contaminants in the canal sediments and propose their routine adoption for use in other polluted urban waterways. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) of whole, dry sediments provides a rapid, reproducible, single-step means for the molecular analysis of a large variety of organic contaminants. In addition to the 16 priority pollutant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), sediment Py-GC/MS permits the detection of alkylated PAHs, organosulfur compounds such as dibenzothiophene and alkylated dibenzothiophenes, normal and isoprenoid alkanes, and petroleum biomarkers such as hopanes. As such, the technique permits discrimination between mixtures of compounds deriving from sources including fossil fu