PREFACE
his volume addresses an important scientific issue at the interface of the dual concern for the quality of the environment and the adequacy of energy and its proper use: namely, the analytical methodology for monitoring the fate and effects of petroleum as it enters the aquatic environments. It is well accepted that for at least the near future, there w i l l be continued primary reliance on fossil fuels for our energy needs. This continued reliance on fossil fuels as a major energy source entails, among others, the transportation of increasingly greater quantities of petroleum over great distances; the issue of oil possibly entering the oceans from the offshore drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific coasts; possible oil spills, which in the past have received spectacular coverage in the popular press; and petroleum hydrocarbons as they may accumulate i n marine fauna and flora. Proper analytical methodology can be effective in evaluating the significance of these issues as well as consideration of the natural entry of hydrocarbons i n the aquatic environments (natural seepage and airborne materials ). W h e n the scientific community—chemists, marine ecologists, microbiologists, toxicologists, and many others—turned its attention to the problem of petroleum in the aquatic environments, it became apparent very quickly that, popular expectations not withstanding, the analytical chemistry involved is both critical and complex. One cannot discuss the fate and effects of petroleum by simply monitoring one or even a few compounds. Petroleum is too complex a mixture for such simplistic approaches. Too, the great diversity of conditions under which petroleum might be found in the marine and aquatic environments; the many physical, photochemical, and microbiological changes that it might undergo under these diverse conditions; its highly complex initial composition; the variable propensity for the alteration of its constituent chemical classes; and the minute quantities that one might be dealing with after extraction or separation; all combine to attest to the great complexity of the analytical chemical issues involved. This volume is a collection of topics that were discussed at a Symposium sponsored by the Petroleum and Analytical Chemistry Divisions of the American Chemical Society at its 176th National Meeting. A n attempt has been made to balance the chapters between methodology
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ix Petrakis and Weiss; Petroleum in the Marine Environment Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
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and important paradigms, after an initial assessment of the broad issues involved. The authors are a cross section of important contributors from academic, industrial, and governmental laboratories. It is hoped, of course, that this volume w i l l be timely and useful. It is deliberately addressed to a broad readership including active workers of various disciplines dealing with aspects of this problem; persons contemplating entering the field and who may be i n need of a cogent up-to-date review; administrative or legal personnel who may be dealing with questions of appropriate methodology i n proposed work or forensic problems; persons interested i n a general overview of the subject; and professors and students who may find the volume a good source of supplementary material in appropriate courses. The editors express their great appreciation to the authors who prepared their manuscripts w i t h diligence and enthusiasm i n order to make the publication of this volume timely and useful. Sincere thanks are also due to the Officers of the Petroleum and Analytical Divisions of the American Chemical Society, the A C S Books Department, and all the others—too numerous to mention by name—who have contributed materially to the preparation of this volume. Gulf Research & Development Company Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Shell Development Company Houston, Texas
LEONIDAS PETRAKIS
FRED T. WEISS
December 14, 1978
Petrakis and Weiss; Petroleum in the Marine Environment Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
