ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2014
Evaluating officially reported polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emissions in the Athabasca oil sands region with a multimedia fate model.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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11 citing papers in PubMed, 114 citations in OpenAlex.
- Integrating Monitoring and Biomonitoring Data with Mechanistic Models to Better Estimate and Characterize Aggregate Human Exposures to Semivolatile Organic Chemicals.Environmental science & technology · 2025Article
- Temporal Trends of Legacy and Current-Use Halogenated Flame Retardants in Lake Ontario in Relation to Atmospheric Loadings, Sources, and Environmental Fate.Environmental science & technology · 2023Article
- A decadal synthesis of atmospheric emissions, ambient air quality, and deposition in the oil sands region.Integrated environmental assessment and management · 2022Review
- The last 25 years of research on bioflocculants for kaolin flocculation with recent trends and technical challenges for the future.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Review
- Differences between measured and reported volatile organic compound emissions from oil sands facilities in Alberta, Canada.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2017Article
- Potential health risks posed by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in muscle tissues of fishes from the Athabasca and Slave Rivers, Canada.Environmental geochemistry and health · 2017Article
- Products of biotransformation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fishes of the Athabasca/Slave river system, Canada.Environmental geochemistry and health · 2016Article
- Multimedia model for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitro-PAHs in Lake Michigan.Environmental science & technology · 2014Article
- Reply to Ahad et al.: Source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Athabasca oil sands region is still a work in progress.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2014Article
- Evaporative emissions from tailings ponds are not likely an important source of airborne PAHs in the Athabasca oil sands region.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2014Article
- Unravelling the complexity of pollution by the oil sands industry.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2014Article
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2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Emissions of organic substances with potential toxicity to humans and the environment are a major concern surrounding the rapid industrial development in the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR). Although concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in some environmental samples have been reported, a comprehensive picture of organic contaminant sources, pathways, and sinks within the AOSR has yet to be elucidated. We sought to use a dynamic multimedia environmental fate model to reconcile the emissions and residue levels reported for three representative PAHs in the AOSR. Data describing emissions to air compiled from two official sources result in simulated concentrations in air, soil, water, and foliage that tend to fall close to or below the minimum measured concentrations of phenanthrene, pyrene, and benzo(a)pyrene in the environment. Accounting for evaporative emissions (e.g., from tailings pond disposal) provides a more realistic representation of PAH distribution in the AOSR. Such indirect emissions to air were found to be a greater contributor of PAHs to the AOSR atmosphere relative to reported direct emissions to air. The indirect pathway transporting uncontrolled releases of PAHs to aquatic systems via the atmosphere may be as significant a contributor of PAHs to aquatic systems as other supply pathways. Emission density estimates for the three PAHs that account for tailings pond disposal are much closer to estimated global averages than estimates based on the available emissions datasets, which fall close to the global minima. Our results highlight the need for improved accounting of PAH emissions from oil sands operations, especially in light of continued expansion of these operations.
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