Constructing Petroleum-Derived Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Related Toxic Source Profiles via Effect-Directed Analysis

Area of Science:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Ecotoxicology
• Pollution Management

Background:

• Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists pose ecological risks, necessitating effective pollution management strategies.
• Toxic source apportionment is vital for controlling AhR-related toxicity, but lacks specific profiles for petroleum-derived contaminants.
• Petroleum leakage accidents create unique environments for studying AhR-related toxic source profiles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To construct novel petroleum-derived toxic source profiles for Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists.
• To identify key AhR agonists in petroleum-polluted soils and assess their contribution to toxicity.
• To provide a framework for toxic source apportionment and pollution management related to petroleum contamination.

Main Methods:

• Utilized polluted and unpolluted soil samples from a petroleum leakage accident for profile construction.
• Employed n-alkanes and proxy indicators to validate soil classification and source identification.
• Applied effect-directed analysis to identify key AhR agonists and assess synergistic effects.
• Validated the specificity of the constructed toxic source profile using principal coordinate analysis.

Main Results:

• Identified chrysene, methylated benzo-[a]-anthracene (MeBaA) isomers, and methylated chrysene (MeChr) isomers as key AhR agonists in petroleum-polluted soils.
• Determined that 2-MeChr and 9-MeBaA/3-MeChr isomers contribute most significantly to the observed toxicity.
• Confirmed the presence of synergistic effects among the identified AhR agonists.
• The constructed toxic source profile successfully explained a significant portion of crude oil's toxicity.

Conclusions:

• Successfully constructed the first petroleum-derived AhR-related toxic source profiles, enabling accurate toxic source apportionment.
• The findings provide critical data for managing pollution from petroleum spills and protecting ecological health.
• This study offers a new methodological framework applicable to the construction of other toxic source profiles.