Article Dans Une Revue The Science of Nature Naturwissenschaften Année : 1999

Fossil fuel biomarkers in sewage sludges: environmental significance

Cécile Payet
  • Fonction : Auteur
Jean-Louis Morel

Résumé

Fossil fuel biomarkers, or "molecular fossils," are specific organic substances found in coals, petroleums, and sedimentary rocks. They are formed during millions of years of sedimentary burial by geochemical alteration of biological molecules, such as cholesterol, under the effect of biodegradation, temperature, pressure, and mineral catalysis, to produce geochemically mature molecules, for example, aromatic steroids (Fig. 1). Since fossil fuel biomarkers have a very specific molecular structure betraying fossil fuel sources, such markers should be useful in assessing the fossil fuel contamination of various modern media such as soils, plants, waters, and modern sediments. Here the identification of fossil fuel biomarkers of high geothermal maturity in sewage sludges provides evidence of the contamination of sludges by petroleum products. The most likely sources of contamination are contaminated vegetal food, road dust, and soil particles carried by rain water.

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hal-00262396 , version 1 (11-03-2008)

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Cécile Payet, Carine Bryselbout, Jean-Louis Morel, Eric Lichtfouse. Fossil fuel biomarkers in sewage sludges: environmental significance. The Science of Nature Naturwissenschaften, 1999, 86 (10), pp.484-488. ⟨10.1007/s001140050659⟩. ⟨hal-00262396⟩

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