Occurrence of Aliphatic Hydrocarbons in Water, Suspended Particulate Matter and Sediments of Daliao River System, China

In August of 2005 a study was carried out to evaluate contamination of aliphatic hydrocarbons(AHc) in water, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments from Daliao River system composed of the Hun River, Taizi River, and Daliao River in a heavy industrial area of northeast of China. The content of AHc ranged from 13.39 to 283.62 microg L(-1) in surface water, from 22.68 to 5,725.36 microg g(-1) in dry SPM, and from 61.37 to 229.42 microg g(-1) in dry sediments. High hydrocarbon levels were generally found in the areas associated with high anthropogenic impact and port activities. The calculated hydrocarbon indexes suggest that the stations with petrogenic sources and biogenic origin predominance would constitute aliphatic hydrocarbons for the river system. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) of aliphatic hydrocarbons is correspondence with hydrocarbons indexes results.