Characterization of scrubber water discharges from ships using comprehensive suspect screening strategies based on GC-APCI-HRMS
Journal article, 2023
An extended suspect screening approach for the comprehensive chemical characterization of scrubber discharge waters from exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCSs), used to reduce atmospheric shipping emissions of sulphur oxides, was developed. The suspect screening was based on gas chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS) and focused on the identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their alkylated derivatives (alkyl-PAHs), which are among the most frequent and potentially toxic organic contaminants detected in these matrices. Although alkyl-PAHs can be even more abundant than parent compounds, information regarding their occurrence in scrubber waters is scarce. For compound identification, an in-house compound database was built, with 26 suspect groups, including 25 parent PAHs and 23 alkyl-PAH homologues. With this approach, 7 PAHs and 12 clusters of alkyl-PAHs were tentatively identified, whose occurrence was finally confirmed by target analysis using GC coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Finally, a retrospective analysis was performed to identify other relevant (poly)cyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) of potential concern in scrubber waters. According to it, 18 suspect groups were tentatively identified, including biphenyls, dibenzofurans, dibenzothiophenes and oxygenated PAHs derivatives. All these compounds could be used as relevant markers of scrubber water contamination in heavy traffic marine areas and be considered as potential stressors when evaluating scrubber water toxicity.
Shipping emissions
Scrubber water
GC-HRMS
Alkyl-PAHs
PAHs
Author
Elisa García-Gómez
University of Girona
Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA)
G. Gkotsis
Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
M. C. Nika
Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Ida-Maja Hassellöv
Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Maritime Studies
Kent Salo
Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Maritime Studies
Anna Lunde Hermansson
Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Maritime Studies
Erik Ytreberg
Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Maritime Studies
N. S. Thomaidis
Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Meritxell Gros
University of Girona
Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA)
M. Petrovic
Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA)
Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies
Chemosphere
0045-6535 (ISSN) 18791298 (eISSN)
Vol. 343 140296Evaluation, control and Mitigation of the EnviRonmental impacts of shippinG Emissions (EMERGE)
European Commission (EC) (EC/H2020/874990), 2020-02-01 -- 2024-01-31.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)
Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources
Environmental Sciences
DOI
10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140296