APPLICATION OF PENTACYCLIC TRITERPANES AS A BIOMARKER IN IDENTIFYING THE SOURCE OF OIL POLLUTION IN THE EAST COAST OF PENINSULAR MALAYSIA
Keywords:
Pentacyclic triterpanes, Sediment core, Diagnostic ratios, South China Sea, Petroleum pollutionAbstract
South China Sea is a major shipping route for oil transportation from Middle East to Northeast Asian countries. A study was carried out to determine the source of oil pollution in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Pentacyclic triterpanes (hopanes) were used as molecular markers to fingerprint the source of petroleum hydrocarbon pollution. Ten core samples were collected and extracted using soxhlet extraction procedure. Samples were separated and fractionated using 2-steps silica gel column chromatography and injected into gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The Σhopanes ranged from 2.12 ng/g to 1331.74 ng/g dry weight. The sources of petroleum hydrocarbons were identified by diagnostic ratios of C29/C30 hopanes and ΣC31-C35/C30 hopanes. Based on the ratios, seven of the sediment samples were originated from South East Asia Crude Oil, while the rest were originated from the Middle East Crude Oil. Hopanes are powerful markers for oil source identification.
