Volatile organic compounds in coastal seawater

The occurence and temporal variations of a variety of low to medium polarity organic compounds in the volatility range bracketed by n-heptane and n-octadecane have been studied in seawater from a station in Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts, and from a tidal creek in Sippewisset Marsh, Massachusetts. The closed-loop vapor phase stripping method of Grob and Zürcher (J. Chromatogr., v. 117, p. 285–294), high resolution glass capillary gas chromatography, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used. Approximately 50 compounds were found at ≥ 2 ng/kg; most were recovered at less than 10 ng/kg, while the 20 ng/kg level was only rarely exceeded by a few components. The total material recovered was 0.2–1.0 μg organic carbon equivalent/kg seawater. The major compound classes found were normal alkanes, alkenes, aromatic and alkylaromatic hydrocarbons, n-aldehydes, dimethyldisulfide and dimethyltrisulfide, and a few halogenated hydrocarbons. The preliminary results suggest that both biogenic and anthropogenic sources were representted. Also, air-sea gas exchange and other physical processes may be important non-biological sinks.