The petroleum hydrocarbon dist1ibution in the Port Dichson coastal waters was studied over a period of three years

from 1986 to 1989. Generally, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) of hydrocarbon levels in water among

the sampling stations on each of the sampling dates. However a pronounced fluctuation was found at different

samping dates. Similarly, a pronounced fluctuation of hydrocarbon content in the sediment with different sampling

dates was also detected. The mean hydrocarbon level in the water ranged between 14.69ppb and 150.28 ppb, ESSO

'Tapis A crude oil equivalent (or between 0.77 ppb and 7.87 ppb, chrysene equivalent), while for the sediment it

ranged between 21. 73 mg/kg and 74.50 mg/kgdry sediment, Esso Tapis A crude oil equivalent (or between 1.12

mg/hgand 3. 90 mg/kgdry sediment, chrysene equivalent). The oil pollution level in the PortDickson coastal waters

was comparable or higher than that found in the Exclusive Economic Zone watels off Pahang and Sabah, but was

lower than that detected in the Terengganu and Sanl1uak waters. The saUTce of hydrocarbon pollution in the POTt

Dichsm~ coastal waters was probably from the open sea and the nearby harbour and oil refineries rather than from

land TUn of

Law, A. T.

Ravinthar, Vellu

Yeong, C. H.

Universiti Putra Malaysia Institutional Repository

Pertanika 13(3), ::IH J - ::IH7 (1990)Oil Pollution in the Coastal Waters off Port Dickson,Straits of MalaccaLAW, AT., V. RAVI THAR and C.H. YEONGFaculty ofFisheries and Mmine Science,Universiti Peltanian Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor DaTUl Ehsan, Malaysia.Key words: oil pollution, petroleum hydrocarbons, coastal waters.ABSTRAKTaburan hidrolwrbon petroleum di jJerairan persisiran P01t Dickson telah dikaji selama tiga tahun iaitu daripadatahun 1986 hingga 1989. Saara mnnya, tidak terdapat jJerbezaan yang bererti (P > 0.05) untuh tabaphidroharbon dalam air di antara stesen pensampelan pada setiap han pensampelan yang sama. Walaubagaimanapun, keadaan tUTlm-naik tahap hidrokarbon telah didajJati pada hari pensamjJelan yang lain.Keadaan tuntn-naih yang nyata juga didapati untuh handungan hidrokarbon dalam endapan yang disampelpada hmi yang berlainan. Kepehatan min hidrokarbon dalam air didapati berjulat di antam 14. 69jJjJb hingga150.28 ppb setam minyah mentahESSO Tapis A (atau di antara O. 77pjJb dan 7.87ppb setara hrisen). KejJehatanmin handungan hidrolwrbon di dalam endapan pula didapati di antam 21.73 mg/hg hingga 74.50 mg/hgendapan henngsetara minyah mentahESSO Tapis A (atau di antara 1.12 mg/hgdan 3. 90 mg/kgendapan keringsetma krisen). Tahap pencemamn hidroharbon di perairan persisiran Pm't Dickson adalah hampirsama ataupunlebih tinggi daripada peraimn Zon Ehonomi t'hslusif Pahang dan Sabah tetapi agah lebih nmdah dmipadaperairan Terengganu dan Sarawak. Sumber pencemamn hidrokarbon di perairan persisiran Port Dicksonberkemungkinan datangnJla dwijJada laut luas, pelabuhan danjuga ter/ninalpenapisan min)IakyangberhamjJirandan buhannya daripada hasil buangan darat.ABSTRACTT'he petroleum hydrocarbon dist1ibution in the Port Dichson coastal waters was studied over a period of three yearsfrom 1986 to 1989. Generally, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) ofhydrocarbon levels in water amongthe sampling stations on each of the sampling dates. Howevel; a jJronounced fluctuation was found at differentsamjJlingdates. Similarly, apronouncedfluctuation ofhydrocarbon content in the sediment with different samplingdates was also detected. The mean hydrocarbon level in the water ranged between 14.69ppb and 150.28 ppb, ESSO'Tapis A crude oil equivalent (or between 0.77 ppb and 7.87 ppb, chrysene equivalent), while for the sediment itranged between 21. 73 mg/kg and 74.50 mg/kgdry sediment, Esso Tapis A crude oil equivalent (or between 1.12mg/hgand 3. 90 mg/kgdry sediment, chrysene equivalent). The oilpollution level in thePortDickson coastal waterswas comparable or higher than that found in the Exclusive Economic Zone watels offPahang and Sabah, but waslower than that detected in the Terengganu and Sanl1uak waters. The saUTce ofhydrocarbon pollution in the POTtDichsm~ coastal waters was probably from the open sea and the nearby harbour and oil refineries rather than fromland TUnofJINTRODUCTIONOil pollution of Malaysian coastal waters largelyarises from vessel operation, tanker accidents, oilexploration and production activities, and to alesser extent from municipal and industrialdischarges (UNEP 1987a). During the periodbetween 1975 and 1987, there were not less thanten cases ofshipping accidents in Malaysian watersLAW, AT., V. RAVINTHAR AND C.H. YEONCresulting in the release of23,000 tons ofcrude oilinto the marine environment (UNEP 1987b), Anaverage of 150 ships/day comprising of90 cargoships, 40 tankers and other vessels go through theStraits of Malacca (Finn et al. 1979). There arefive oil refineries in operation in Malaysia and twoof them are located on the coast of Port Dickson.Extensive exploration and production activitiesare being conducted in the off-shore waters oftheSouth China Sea where there are more than 45oil fields and 47 gas fields (UNEP 1987b). Allthese activities have made the Malaysian coastalwaters more susceptible to oil pollution,Port Dickson is located on the west coast ofPeninsular Malaysia adjacent to the Straits ofMalacca. Routine handling of crude oil andrefined oil at the terminals and at the port as wellas heavy maritime tanker transportation in theStraits of Malacca would undoubtedly have animpact on the water quality of the Port Dicksoncoastal waters. Comprehensive studies onpetroleum hydrocarbon pollution have not beenreported in this area except that of Law andRavinthar (1989) who studied the hydrocarbondistribution in the near-shore waters and beachsand. This project was undertaken to study thedistribution of petroleum hydrocarbons in thecoastal waters and sediments off Port Dickson.MATERIALS AND METHODSSt/ldy Arm.FIfteen sampling stations were established andtheir locations are the same as described in theprevious report (Law & Azahar, 1990), StationsA to A. were about 3 to 5 m away from theI bshoreline and had a depth of I m. Stations B] toB,\ were I km, stations C j to C\ were 3 km andst~tionsD I to D:\ were 5 km away respectively fromthe shoreline,Sampling lfdwiqups.Water samples close to the shore were collectedwith a 4 I clean amber-glass bottle which hadbeen thoroughly cleaned with detergent, hotdistilled water and dichloromethane prior to use.For coastal waters, water samples were collectedat a depth of half a meter below the sea surfacewith a 4 I clean amber-glass bottle andapproximately 1 m above the sea floor with a 5 IVan Dorn Sampler. The samples were kept coolin the dark and extraction was conducted within3-6 h after sampling. Sediment samples werecollected with a Mcintyre grab. The surfacesediment samples (0-3 cm) were taken by using astainless steel spatula and transferred into wide-mOll th glass specimen bottles. The samples werekept cool in an ice box on board and frozen al-20°C in the laboratory until further analysis.. Ana('Vtiral Techniques.Petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in thewater samples were determined according to thefluorospectrometric method of Parsons et at.(1984), One I of the water sample was extractedthree times with dichloromethane (40ml: 40 ml:20rnl), The extracts were combined and storedin glass reagent bottles which had been cleanedwith dichloromethane and brought to thelaboratory for analysis. The residual water andpolar organic substances were removed from theextract with anhydrous sodium sulfate and silicagel (60-120 mesh), respectively. The solvent wasevaporated to dryness in a rotary evaporator al35°C under partial vacuum. The concentrate wastaken up in 10.0 ml n-hexane. Fluorescence ofthe sample was measured at 310 nm excitationand 374 nm emission wavelength, respectively, AKon tron Fluorospectrometer (SFM 23) was usedfor the analysis. Chrysene and ESSO Tapis Acrude oil were used for the calibration. Aconversion factor of 19.1 for the ESSO Tapis Acrude oil/chllTsene fluorescene responses wasestablished, Triplicate analyses were performedon each water sample. A 93 ± 3.6% recovery wasachieved from synthetic sea water containing81.29 ppb of ESSO Tapis A crude oil.The petroleum hydrocarbon content in thesediments was estimated according to the methodof USEPA (1979). The frozen sample was driedin the freeze dryer. Five g of the dried sample wasextracted with 150 ml ofdichloromethane for 8 hin a Soxhlet apparatus, The temperature for theSoxhlet extraction was set at 40°C. Afterextraction, the extract was depolarized and thesolvent was evaporized, The residual oil wasconcentrated in 10 ml of n-hexane. Thepetroleum hydrocarbon content in the sampleswas then determined by the fluroescence methodas described for the water sample. A 96% ±4,9%recovery was obtained from the hydrocarbon freePERTANIKA VOl.. l~, :"lO.~, 1990TABLE 1Petroleum hydrocarbon distribution in the water and sediment off Port Dickson coastal waters withdistance away from the shoreline (in chrysene equivalent)0~Sampling-17/11/86 17/12/86 24/4/87 24/8/87 26/3/88 21/6/88 24/8/88 18/1/89 ;:<date ::::;....r.Stations' Watcr~ Scdiment·~ Water Sediment Water Sediment Water Sediment Water Sediment Water Sediment Water Sediment Water Sediment Water Sediment j,-.,v"'0/.M A (1-6) 11.72' _5 0.61 5.42 542 2.88~ /.(1I.2(~1.41) (0.21-1.27) (3.05-706) (3.05-7.06) (1.04-5.29) .-J:c:-<c~ ,-.,B(1-3) 11.86 2.91 2.08 0.72 3_04 4.20 5.96 2.59 6.53 5.15 3.06 318 5.96 4.84 2.41 2.118 0-< (11.47-1.45) (1.23-4.99) (1.26-3.02) (0.50-0.94) (1.67-4.13) (1.30-7.01) (3.98-7.90) (1.45-3.71) (4.14-10.30) (3.77-6.53) (1.33-5.47) (1.05-4.97) (3.98-7.90) (2.64-6.45) (0.44-4.19) (119-2.88) ?'J;0 .-Jr C:"'"' C (1-3) 0.78 0.72 1.38 1.38 4.78 1.71 6.15 7.59 2.66 2.62 4.38 6.15 4.76 1.63 1.66 :;.tJOZ (11.23-1.58) (0.19-1.69) (0.42-2.58) (0.73--1.93) (1.06-8.28) (1.11-3.66) (3.68-780) (540-10.86) (0.88-6.08) (0.48-448) (1.42-8.22) (3.68-7.80) (2.41-8.46 (1.118-2.56) (11.38-2.89) ;..:.-J9 rrltJO ;;0. D (1-3) 1.43 3.32 5.88 178 9.50 3.72 2.47 6.41 3.36 1.611 'J;"'"',-.,<D (0.56-2.08) (1.95-5.88) v<D (2.05-7.80) (1.24-2.24) (5.47-11.40) (2.05-9.03) (1.08-4.19) (2.05-7.90) (2.16-5.05) (0.86-322) ."0."0.77,.:::Mean 1.611 1.20 112 3.71 2.71 5.77 227 7.87 3.90 3.14 3.34 5.74 4.45 2.28 1.97 v::c(1I.2(~ 1.58) (11.19-4.99) (0.21-'\.02) (0.50-1.93) (1.06-8.28) (1.11-7.01) (2.05-7.90) (1.24-3.71) (4.14-11.40) (0.88-6.53) (0.48-9.03) (1.05-8.22) (2.05-7.90) (2.16-8.46) (11.44-5.29) (11.38-2.89) .-Jt),-.,Distance away from the shoreline; Stations A, 3-5 meters, Stations B, I km; Stations C, 3 km; Stations D, 5 km. ~'J;hlg/l chrysene equivalent,-.,v%3 mg/kg dry sediment chrysene equivalent4 Mean and range5 Not determined'-'000""L\W, AT., V. RA.VINTHAR A D C.H. YEONGsediment containing 81.29 ug of ESSO Tapis Acrude oil.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe distribution ofpetroleum hydrocarbonsin the water and sedimen t ofPort Dickson coastalwaters are presented in Table 1. The resultsindicated that on each sampling date, except on26 March 1988, 21June 1988 and 8January 1989,there was no significant difference of petroleumhydrocarbon concentrations in the watersbetween the shore and 5 km away from the coast(P > 0.05). However, there was a significantdifference of petroleum hydrocarbon content inthe sediments (P <0.05). Th e mean concentrationof petroleum hydrocarbon in the water rangedbetween 0.77 ppb and 7.87 ppb, chryseneequivalent (or between 14.69 ppb and 150.28ppb Esso Tapis A crude oil equivalent), while forthe sediment, it ranged between 1.12 mg/kg and3.90 mg/kg dry sediment, chrysene equivalent(or 21.73 mg/kg and 74.50 mg/kg dry sediment,ESSO Tapis A crude oil equivalent). The resultsalso indicated that there was a pronouncedfluctuation of hydrocarbon levels in the waterand sediment on the sampling dates, with a 10-fold fluctuation in the water and 3.5-foldfluctuation in the sedimen (Fig la). Thesefindings were consistent with the findino-s of Lawband Ravinthar (1989) that petroleumhydrocarbon residue levels fluctuate in the near-shore waters and in the beach sand of PortDickson.The petroleum hydrocarbon concentrationin the near-shore waters was found to be notsignificantly different and comparatively lowerthan that detected in the coastal waters (P > 0.05).This indicates that hydrocarbons that originatefrom the municipal effluents from Port Dicksondo not contribute significantly to oil pollution inthe coastal waters. The possible sources of oilcontamination are the discharge of oily wastewater by vessels passing through the Straits ofMalacca and through the routine handling ofcrude oil at the terminals of the refineries. Theoily waste water can reach the coastal waters offPort Dickson through transportation by tidalcurren t, especially during the south-west monsoonseason. Even though there was no correlationbetween the hydrocarbon level in the water andTABLE 2Comparison of petroleum hydrocarbon levels in Pon Dickson coastal waters withvalues reponed in other seas (in crude oil equivalent)Location Water Sediment Sources(llg/1) (mg/kg dry weight)South China SeaTerengganu coastal waters 980 (10 - 1750) (6.43 - 1332.13) Law and Rahimi (1986)Pahang coastal waters 36.9 (9.49 - 65.56) (10.73 - 85.26) Law and Zulkifli (1987)Sarawak coastal waters 133.96 (13.11 - 545.10) (2.92-1153.53) Law and Saili (1988)Sabah coastal waters 76.09 (31.61-163.66) 102.54(19.84-226.42) Law (unpublished data)Hong Kong Harbour 8.56 (3.67-11.98) Cheung et ai (1979)Boston Harbour, U.S.A. 292 Ahmad et ai. (1974)Egyption Red Sea 36.8 (10-105) Hanna (1983)Jakarta Bay 6.11 (0.5-46) 85.5 (9-331) UNEP (1987b)Gulf of Thailand 1.77 (0.07-8.30) 12.98(0.03-62.0) Wattayakorn (1987a &1987b)Straits of MalaccaPenang coastal waters (10-120) Phang et ai. (1980)Present study, Pon Dickson (14.69-150.28) (21.73-74.50)coastal waters384 PERTANlKA VOL. 13, 0.3,1990OIL POI.I.l'TIOi'\ IN THE CO.-\STAI. WATERS OFF PORT OICKSO:\.or ·0·79oo(B)wc::OJE '-'~ ~ r---------r1CiJ Etil .,..,"c:: OJ.,-1 (/)3til ....c:: ...0".0... et?-'"-'"'is';;;,.;; ".... 1 '--./=!--'--~__"_~__'___'_-l:=: 0Hydrocarbons in vater. I'g/1--II-- SEDIMENT-{J-- WATER(A)268898887OL.-__L.-__-'---__...L-__----'-__----'-__---'-__----'-__86YearFig I. !H('({II pe/ro/fllIlI hydrorar!JolI 1I'1I('/s ill /he 1I1f11er and sedilllPl1/ of Port Dir!lson mas/a/1I1a/Pls (in r/1I)'SPl/I'erjlliv{(/en/). (A): with dijpml/ S(f1l1jJ!iIlK dall's; (B): /he /inl'ar 1"1'W'ession)sampling time of the year, there was a tendency ofhigher hydrocarbon levels in the water at thestations located 5 km away from the coastlineduring the south-west monsoon season. Ingeneral, a significantly higher level ofhydrocarbons in the waterwas detected at stationsBlandCl (P<0.05). These stations were situatednear the anchoring site of vessels as well as theterminals of refineries and the Port Dicksonharbour. It is possible that oil terminal activitieshave contributed to some extent to oil pollutionin this area. Further studies are required for theassessment of the impact of oil on the waterquality of the Port Dickson coastal waters.The hydrocarbon content in the sedimentwould probably reflect the status of oil pollutionin the area better than the level of hydrocarbonpresentin the water, especially in the Port Dicksoncoastal waters, where the hydrocarbon levelsfluctuate throughout the year. Ac10se relationshipbetween the hydrocarbon contentin the sedimentand that in the water was inferred in this studybecause the correlation coefficient was 0.79 (fig1b). The gas liquid chromatographic analyses ofthe hydrocarbon residues in the sediment,collected from stations Cl, C2 and C3, revealedthat the samples contained mainly oil of theheave fraction (Fig 2). This indicates that activebiodegradation of hydrocarbons occurs in thisarea. Studies on the biodegradation ofcrude oilare being conducted to verify this aspect.A comparison ofthe petroleum hydrocarbonlevels in the water and sediment of the presentstudy with values reported for other seas arepresented in Table 2. The hydrocarbon level inthe waters off Port Dickson was lower than thatfound in the Boston Harbour waters, theTerenganu and the Sarawak coastal waters of theSouth China Sea. However, the levels werecomparable to that detected in the Egyptian RedSea, Sabah and Penang coastal waters but higherthan that found in the Gulf of Thailand, HongKong Harbour and Pahang coastal waters. In thecase of sediments, the petroleum hydrocarbonPERTANlKA VOL. 13, NO.3, 1990 385[AW, AT, \'. RAVI;\THAR AND C.H. YEONGo...()TN...()T(,)llD·COONVCOO N.... .... N N 'N N M M() () () () () () () ()r TTTTTl TVM()ln-alkanes(2mg each inlOamI n-hexane)Station ClStation C2Station C3lDN()l;: .'"'--....... -386I-Ig. 3. Gos dtrrJlllatogmflltie Sfleetm O/Oilli'sidlle.l ill tlte .IcdimClll.l al Siolioll C1, (;2 (llld C:J.PERTA TIKA VOL. [3, NO.3, 1990OIl. POl.LUTION IN THE COASTAL WATERS OFF PORT DICKSON.con ten t was higher than that detected in the GulfofThailand, but lower than those found in Sabah,Sarawak, Pahang and Terengganu coastal waters.Marchand et al. (1982) employed an indexofl00mg hydrocarbon per kilogram ofdry sedimen t asan indicator for oil pollution. The hydrocarboncontent in the sediments of this study rangedbetween 21.33 mg/kg and 74.50 mg/kg drysediment, ESSO Tapis A crude oil equivalent,thus indicating that the petroleum hydrocarboncontamination in the study area was still low andmay not be detriment to living organisms.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe authors would"like to thank Mr. Cheah SinHock and Dr. Hishamuddin bin Omar for theircomments and suggestions and Puan Normalabte Abu Samah for typing the manuscript. Thisproject was funded by Universiti PertanianMalaysia and IRPA (4-07-05-06).REFERENCESAH~.f..\D, A.H., M.D. BEASLY. A.e. EFROMsoN, and R.A.HITES. 1974. Marine Pollution Monitoring(petroleum). Proceedings oj a Symposium andWOIk,hop held at NBS Gaitersburg, Maryland, 13-17 May, 1974. NBS Spero publ. 409:109.CHEl'N(:, MT., TY. CHENG, S.W. LEUNG, C.e. Lo andL.M. MAK.1979. Oil pollution along Coastal Areasof Hong Kong. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 10:228-231.FIN " D.P.,Y. HANAYAMA, MJ. MEl AJ DI I EJAD, T.PIYAK.-\RNCHANA, and J. . REEVES. 1979. OilPollution from Tankers in the Straits of Malacca:a Policy and Legal Analysis. 153 p. East-westCentre, Open Grants Office, Honolulu, Hawaii.Mimeo.HANNA, R.G.M. 1983. Oil pollution on the EgyptianRed Sea Coast. Mar. Pollul. Bull. 14:268-271.LAW, A.T. and Y. RAHIM!. 1986. HydrocarbonDistribution in the South China Sea. MatahariExpedition '85. A Study on the Offshore Watersof the Malaysian EEZ, ed. A.KM. Mohsin, Mohd.Ibrahim and Mohd. Azmi Ambak. Faculty ofFisheries and Marine Science, Universiti PertanianMalaysia, Occasional Publication. 3: 93-100.LAW, AT. and M. ZULKIFLI. 1987. Distribution ofPetroleum Hydrocarbon in the South-westernPortion of the South China Sea. MatahariExpedition '86. A Study on the Offshore Watersof the Malaysian EEZ, edA.KM, Mohsin, RidzwanAbd. Rahman and M.A. Ambak. FacultyofFisheriesand Marine Science, niversiti Pertanian Malaysia,Occasional Publication 4: 53-60.LAW,A.T. and L. SAILI. 1988. 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A Study ofthe Hydrocarbon Content in the Coastal Watersalong the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.Coastal Resources of East Coast PeninsularMalaysia, ed TE. Chua, and Ke. Joseph. PulauPinang: Universiti Sains Malaysia, 306 p.UNEP. 1987a. Oil Pollution Control Measures andArrangements in Malaysia. UNEP (OCA)/EAS .WG. l/ll. Mimeo 38 p.UNEP. 1987b. Oceanographic Features andMeterological Phenomena of the East Asian SeasRegion Relevent to Oil Pollution and its Control.UNEP(OCA)/EAS WG. 1/3. Mimeo, 378 p.USEPA. 1979. EPA method 625 (sampleconcentration) ,44, U.S. Registrar (233): 69540.WATTAYAKORN, G., 1987a. Dissolved/DispersedHydrocarbons in the Gulf of Thailand. 4thSeminar on Water Quality and the Quality ojLivingResources in Thai Waters, 7-9 July, Surat Thani,Thailand. Preprint, lOp.WATTAYAKORJ'J, G. 1987b. Distribution of PetroleumResidues in Surficial Sediments from the Gulf ofThailand. Con! on Coastal and Estuarine Pollution,18-21 Oct. 1987, Fukuoka,]apan. Preprint, 7 p.(Received 21 Feb11.la1y, ]990)PERTANIKA VOL. 13, NO.3, 1990 387

Oil Pollution in the Coastal Waters off Port Dickson, Straits of Malacca

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Oil Pollution in the Coastal Waters off Port Dickson, Straits of Malacca

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