Determination of organic compounds in petroleum on mangrove seedlings (R. mangle, L. racemosa and A. germinans)

Abstract

Due to the impact that mangrove ecosystems have suffered from crude oil accidents in various parts of the world and because there are few studies on the identification of the toxicity effects that it causes on the physiological and morphological processes in mangrove forests in the short and long term. This research will generate the baseline on the above in seedlings of Rhizophora mangle L., Laguncularia racemosa (L.), Avicennia germinans L., simulating natural zoning, under optimal intervals in environmental conditions in a controlled manner. In this work, the PAHs emanating from the gas chromatography analysis were quantified, using the external standard method from a mixture containing 16 PAHs. In addition, in this work the Rhizophora mangle seedlings showed the greatest effect (p <0.05; gl = 2), specifically Benzo (a) Pyrene (rs- 0.967, p = 0.033). Authors such as Botello et al., (1995); Riser et al., (1998) and Kerret et al., (2001), point out that PAHs with 4 or 5 benzene rings are considered compounds with greater persistence in the environment, attributed to the fact that organic compounds bind with the particulate material of the sediment (increased permanence), becoming more resistant to bacterial degradation under anoxic and alkaline conditions; this is supported by what was reported by Chunlonget et al., (2003) and similar conditions obtained in the DCPC during the permanence of crude oil.