Environ. Sci. Technol. 1999, 33, 3290-3296
Trialkylamines and Coprostanol as Tracers of Urban Pollution in Waters from Enclosed Seas: The Mediterranean and Black Sea CRISTINA MALDONADO, JORDI DACHS, AND JOSEP M. BAYONA* Environmental Chemistry Department, I.I.Q.A.B.-C.S.I.C., Jordi Girona 18, E-08034, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
The occurrence and distribution of two domestic pollution markers, namely trialkylamines (TAMs, CH3NR1R2, where R1 and R2 ) n-C14H29, n-C16H33, or n-C18H37) and coprostanol (COP, 5β(H)-cholestan-3β-ol) in the open seawaters from the western Mediterranean and the northwestern Black Sea is reported for the first time. Riverine transport (i.e. Danube in the Black Sea and Ebro and Rhoˆ ne in the Mediterranean) is the main source of domestic pollution in both seas. The TAM concentrations in the suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected at riverine affected seawater in each area reflects the pattern of cationic surfactant usage, the population, and its wastewater management practices in the watershed reaching the highest concentrations at the Danube estuary (average value 119 ng L-1) followed by the Ebro (53.3 ng L-1) and Rhoˆ ne (1.2 ng L-1) estuaries. Coprostanol concentrations were consistently lower than TAMs and maximized at the Rhoˆ ne River mouth (8.9 ng L-1) followed by the Danube (average value 2.4 ng L-1) and the Ebro (0.52 ng L-1) estuaries. In the dissolved phase (DP), TAMs and COP exhibited higher concentrations in the Black Sea (TAMs ) 16.6 ng L-1-10 µg L-1; COP )
