Essence of Oil Pollution of the Caspian Seal (Pusa caspica)

Petroleum products in blubber of a dead Caspian seal washed ashore were studied. It has been shown that the content of petroleum products in the adipose tissue of the Caspian seal (Pusa (Phoca) caspica) is relatively high, but less than the maximum values found previously. Petroleum products in seal blubber include n- and iso-alkanes, alkyl-substituted mono-, bi- and tricycloalkanes, alkylbenzenes, naphthene- and dinaphthenebenzenes, alkylnaphthalenes, and small quantities of acenaphthenes, fluorenes, phenanthrenes, naphthenophenanthrenes, fluoranthenes/pyrenes, and benzthiophenes. Aromatic compounds amount to 50% of all petroleum products, PAHs (including naphthalenes) – to 10%. The majority of aromatic compounds are represented by molecules with 3–12 C atoms in alkyl substituents, while the content of unsubstituted compounds (with the exception of phenanthrene) is relatively small. The distribution of n-alkanes with a high contribution of C17, as well as the prevalence of even n-alkanes C16–C18 and C22–C24, indicates their origin from various biogenic sources. An estimate of the total content of petroleum products in Caspian seal blubber gives about 40% of all extracted compounds.