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Burning hydrocarbons as fuel, which produces carbon dioxide and water, is a major contributor to anthropogenic global warming. Hydrocarbons are introduced into the environment through their extensive use as fuels and chemicals as well as through leaks or accidental spills during exploration, production, refining, or transport of fossil fuels.
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually applied to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters , but spills may also occur on land.
Petroleum is a toxic mixture of organic compounds, trace amounts of heavy metals, and hydrocarbons including many persistent volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons . [7] Discharged into marine environments oil is particularly damaging due to rapid dispersal and the creation of secondary pollutants through photolysis . [ 8 ]
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution.The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land.
Environmental UCMs result from highly degraded petroleum hydrocarbons and once formed they can stay largely unchanged in sediments for many years. For example, in 1969 a diesel oil spill contaminated saltmarsh sediment within Wild Harbor River , US; by 1973 only a baseline hump was observed, which remained largely unchanged within the anaerobic ...
These microorganisms over time have developed metabolic networks that can utilize hydrocarbons such as oil and petroleum as a source of carbon and energy. [44] Microbial bioremediation is a very effective modern technique for restoring natural systems by removing toxins from the environment.
A Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is a class of organic compounds that is composed of multiple aromatic rings. Most are produced by the incomplete combustion of organic matter — by engine exhaust fumes, tobacco, incinerators, in roasted meats and cereals, [ 1 ] or when biomass burns at lower temperatures as in forest fires .
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates of average passenger car emissions in the United States for April 2000 [3] Component Emission Rate Annual pollution emitted Hydrocarbons 2.80 grams/mile (1.75 g/km) 77.1 pounds (35.0 kg) Carbon monoxide 20.9 grams/mile (13.06 g/km) 575 pounds (261 kg) NO x: 1.39 grams/mile (0.87 g/km)