Development of a Pyrolysis GC/MS Facility for Characterizing Oil-Contaminated Water, Sediment and Seafood Samples

该MRI RAPID赠款将允许开发一个实验室设施，该设施可以采用热解结合气相色谱-质谱法（Py-GC/MS）来表征亚拉巴马海岸线的石油，水，沉积物和石油污染的海鲜样本，这些样本受到深水地平线石油泄漏的严重污染。 “深水地平线”漏油事件已将大量石油排入高度敏感的墨西哥湾沃茨。这导致了亚拉巴马和其他墨西哥湾沿岸海滩、湿地和海湾的严重污染。这一灾难性事件的长期影响是完全未知的。鉴于最近的墨西哥湾漏油事件，这项MRI投资是及时和紧迫的。奥本大学的环境工程学院致力于进行同行评审的研究，以解决与此事件有关的各种环境评估和补救问题。具体而言，该MRI RAPID奖将使以下六个与深水地平线石油泄漏事件直接相关的研究课题成为可能：1）开发海湾地区的生态基线数据库; 2）使用波浪罐实验了解分散剂混合原油的命运和运输; 3）了解分散剂对原油溶解过程动力学的影响; 4）量化分散剂对石油生物降解动力学的影响; 5）评估分散剂和分散剂混合原油对海洋微型动物的影响; 6）制定海产食品安全测试方法。PI已在其实验室启动了初步的石油特性和生物降解研究。这些研究工作需要GC/MS设备来表征原油及其组分。使用该工具生成的数据将有助于PI更好地了解石油泄漏的影响，并有助于设计创新方法来减轻影响。了解原油成分的命运和运输及其对水质、沉积物、海产品和整个沿海生态系统的影响，对于了解漏油对墨西哥湾沿岸经济的总体长期影响至关重要。PI目前正在与一个由社会学家、海洋生物学家和生态学家组成的多元化团队合作，探讨与漏油有关的各种长期社会经济问题。

This MRI RAPID grant will allow for the development of a laboratory facility that can employ pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to characterize oil, water, sediment, and oil-contaminated seafood samples from the Alabama coastline that is heavily contaminated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has discharged an enormous amount of oil into highly sensitive Gulf waters. This has resulted in severe contamination of Alabama's and other Gulf coast beaches, wetlands, and bays. The long-term impacts of this catastrophic event are simply unknown. This MRI investment is timely and urgent in light of the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The Environmental Engineering faculty at Auburn University is committed to conducting peer-reviewed research to address various environmental assessment and remediation problems related to this event. Specifically, this MRI RAPID award will enable the following six research topics that are directly related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill event: 1) developing an ecological baseline database for the Gulf region; 2) understanding the fate and transport of dispersant-mixed crude oil using wave-tank experiments; 3) understanding the influence of dispersants on the kinetics of the crude oil dissolution process; 4) quantifying the influence of dispersants on oil biodegradation kinetics; 5) assessing the impacts of dispersants and dispersant-mixed crude on marine microfauna; and 6) development of seafood safety test methods. The PIs have initiated preliminary oil characterization and biodegradation studies in their laboratory. These research efforts require a GC/MS facility to characterize the crude oil and its components. The data generated using this instrument will help the PIs better understand the impacts of the oil spill and will also help devise innovative methods to mitigate the impacts. Understanding the fate and transport of crude oil components and its impact on water quality, sediments, seafood and the overall coastal ecosystem is critical to understanding the overall long-term impacts of the oil spill on the Gulf Coast economy. The PI is currently working with a diverse team consisting of sociologists, marine biologists and ecologists to explore various long-term socio-economic issues related to the spill.