Petroleum contamination of Cockburn Sound, Western Australia†

Levels of petroleum in refinery effluent streams have been monitored by ultraviolet fluorescence spectroscopy (UVF) and capillary gas chromatography (GC) over a period of one year. Levels in the receiving waters were measured under three different wind patterns by UVF and on one occasion, by both UVF and GC of the saturate fraction. It was concluded that the bulk of the petroleum in the effluent stream is rapidly lost to the atmosphere by evaporation. The hydrocarbons in mullet captured near the outfall and adjudged by a tasting panel to be tainted with petroleum were examined and compared with those from untainted mullet captured in a comparatively pristine area. The tainted mullet contained approximately 15 mg/Kg of aromatics, principally substituted naphthalenes, strongly suggesting that this is the source of the tainting. Preliminary results from analysis of saturate and aromatic fractions of mussels collected 250 m from the outfall are reported and compared with those of mussels from a less contamina...