Occurrence and sources of natural and anthropogenic lipid tracers in surface soils from arid urban areas of Saudi Arabia

Ahmed I Rushdi; Khalid F Al-Mutlaq; Aarif H El-Mubarak; Mohammed A Al-Saleh; Mubarak T El-Otaibi; Sami M M Ibrahim; Bernd R T Simoneit

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2015.10.049

Occurrence and sources of natural and anthropogenic lipid tracers in surface soils from arid urban areas of Saudi Arabia

Environ Pollut. 2016 Jan;208(Pt B):696-703. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2015.10.049. Epub 2015 Nov 7.

Authors

Ahmed I Rushdi¹, Khalid F Al-Mutlaq², Aarif H El-Mubarak², Mohammed A Al-Saleh³, Mubarak T El-Otaibi³, Sami M M Ibrahim³, Bernd R T Simoneit⁴

Affiliations

¹ Chair of Green Energy Research, Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; College of Earth, Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen. Electronic address: aimrushdi@gmail.com.
² Chair of Green Energy Research, Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Chair of Green Energy Research, Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; Department of Chemistry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.

PMID: 26552533
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2015.10.049

Abstract

Soil particles contain a variety of natural and anthropogenic organic components, and in urban areas can be considered as local collectors of pollutants. Surface soil samples were taken from ten urban areas in Riyadh during early winter of 2007. They were extracted with dichloromethane-methanol mixture and the extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The major compounds were unresolved complex mixture (UCM), plasticizers, n-alkanes, carbohydrates, n-alkanoic acids, hopanes, n-alkanols, and sterols. Vegetation detritus was the major natural source of organic compounds (24.0 ± 15.7%) in samples from areas with less human activities and included n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids, n-alkanols, sterols and carbohydrates. Vehicular emission products and discarded plastics were the major anthropogenic sources in the soil particles (53.3 ± 21.3% and 22.7 ± 10.7%, respectively). The anthropogenic tracers were UCM, plasticizers, n-alkanes, hopanes and traces of steranes. Vegetation and human activities control the occurrence and distribution of natural and anthropogenic extractable organic matter in this arid urban area.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Lipids; Petroleum residues; Plasticizers; Soils.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Complex Mixtures / analysis*
Desert Climate*
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / methods
Humans
Lipids / analysis*
Organic Chemicals / analysis
Plasticizers / analysis
Saudi Arabia
Soil / chemistry
Soil Pollutants / analysis*
Urbanization*
Vehicle Emissions / analysis

Substances

Complex Mixtures
Lipids
Organic Chemicals
Plasticizers
Soil
Soil Pollutants
Vehicle Emissions