In November 2002 the oil tanker ‘Prestige’ released 65 000 tons of a heavy fuel oil throughout the Galician coastline (NW Spain), causing extensive damage to marine life, natural resources and economic activities at Northern Portugal, Spain and SW France. To evaluate the impact of the oil spill on the aquatic system, 30 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including alkylated derivatives, were analyzed in seawater on five different sampling campaigns from 2002 to 2004. Sampling was made along the Galician continental shelf. In each station three samples were collected at three different depths (surface, mid-depth and bottom). Four different approaches for 3-way analyses (Catenated-PCA, Matrix-Augmented Principal Components Analysis, Parallel Factor Analysis and Procrustes rotation) have been used to asses the major sources of PAHs into the seawater. They revealed two main pollution patterns: one related to oil spillages and discharge of petroleum products, and another more associated with a diffuse anthropogenic origin. Oil- and anthropogenic-related sources of PAHs were found in a survey program in Galicia after the Prestige wreck, the latter being more relevant as time went by.

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) were detected in sediment core samples collected in Tokyo Bay to reveal their time trends. The core sample deposited during 1950s–2004 was divided into two- to three-year intervals and the concentrations of 24 types of PFCs were determined. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) decreased gradually from the early 1990s and its precursor decreased rapidly in the late 1990s, whereas perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) increased rapidly. The observed trends were regarded as a reflection of the shift from perfluorooctyl sulfonyl fluoride (PFOSF)-based products to telomer-based products after the phaseout of PFOSF-based products in 2001. The branched isomers of perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA) and perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) were detected in the sample with its ratio of linear-isomer/branched-isomer concentrations decreasing. In this study, we revealed that the sediment core can serve as a tool for reconstructing the past pollution trend of PFCs and can provide interesting evidence concerning their environmental dynamics and time trend. This study reports the time trends of the concentrations of 24 species of PFCs, including FTCA, FTUCA and FOSAA, in a sediment core of Tokyo Bay, Japan. Keywords: Perfluorinated compounds

Thermogravimetry (TG) was used to investigate the pollution on marine sediments close to urban and industrial sites. Sediment weight loss when heated (TG) was performed under oxidizing conditions from 250°C to 900°C. The first derivative of TG curves was used to generate a Cartesian diagram for sediments cataloging, in a quick way, according to their organic matter and grain size contents. Thus, sediment placed at the right of the diagram were characterized by a prevalence of the thin fraction and high organic matter content, while on the left side, samples were characterized by large sandy fractions, and, in general, low organic matter contents. Two references materials and metal pollution index were used to validate the Cartesian diagram obtained.