Scientific article of the Hydrographic Institute published in an international journal

A scientific paper by the authors Carla Palma and Catarina Rocha, of the Division of Chemistry and Pollution of the Marine Environment of the Hydrographic Institute, was published in the international journal Science of the Total Environment entitled "Source identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil sediments: application of diferente methods" , which is based on demonstrating the application of different methodologies for the treatment of analytical data in order to identify the origin of a certain class of chemical compounds (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons).

These compounds are toxic and carcinogenic and their physico-chemical properties make them keen to associate with sediment and animal tissues. In this way, it becomes relevant to identify their emitting sources, thus allowing them to act on them in order to minimize the introduction of these compounds into the environment.

This study focused on the analysis of sediments collected in 4 Portuguese estuaries: Ria de Aveiro, Rio Tejo, Rio Sado and Ria Formosa, between 2010 and 2016, in the scope of the Marine Surveillance and Quality Project.