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Multivariate analysis of mixed contaminants (PAHs and heavy metals) at manufactured gas plant site soils

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Abstract

Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to provide an overview of the distribution pattern of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals in former manufactured gas plant (MGP) site soils. PCA is the powerful multivariate method to identify the patterns in data and expressing their similarities and differences. Ten PAHs (naphthalene, acenapthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benzo[a]pyrene) and four toxic heavy metals — lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr) and zinc (Zn) — were detected in the site soils. PAH contamination was contributed equally by both low and high molecular weight PAHs. PCA was performed using the varimax rotation method in SPSS, 17.0. Two principal components accounting for 91.7% of the total variance was retained using scree test. Principle component 1 (PC1) substantially explained the dominance of PAH contamination in the MGP site soils. All PAHs, except anthracene, were positively correlated in PC1. There was a common thread in high molecular weight PAHs loadings, where the loadings were inversely proportional to the hydrophobicity and molecular weight of individual PAHs. Anthracene, which was less correlated with other individual PAHs, deviated well from the origin which can be ascribed to its lower toxicity and different origin than its isomer phenanthrene. Among the four major heavy metals studied in MGP sites, Pb, Cd and Cr were negatively correlated in PC1 but showed strong positive correlation in principle component 2 (PC2). Although metals may not have originated directly from gaswork processes, the correlation between PAHs and metals suggests that the materials used in these sites may have contributed to high concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cr and Zn. Thus, multivariate analysis helped to identify the sources of PAHs, heavy metals and their association in MGP site, and thereby better characterise the site risk, which would not be possible if one uses chemical analysis alone.

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Acknowledgement

The work was supported by Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), Government of Australia and Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of Environments (CRC CARE) through providing PhD fellowship. The authors are thankful to Centre for Environment Risk assessment and remediation (CERAR), University of South Australia for providing research facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, Building ‘X’, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Boulevard, South Australia, 5095, Australia

    Palanisami Thavamani, Mallavarapu Megharaj & Ravi Naidu

  2. CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Mawson Lakes, SA, Australia

    Palanisami Thavamani, Mallavarapu Megharaj & Ravi Naidu

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  1. Palanisami Thavamani
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  2. Mallavarapu Megharaj
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  3. Ravi Naidu
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Correspondence to Mallavarapu Megharaj.

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Thavamani, P., Megharaj, M. & Naidu, R. Multivariate analysis of mixed contaminants (PAHs and heavy metals) at manufactured gas plant site soils. Environ Monit Assess 184, 3875–3885 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2230-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2230-4

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