oa Disclosing the Source of the Spilled Oil on the Brazilian Coast in 2022 by Forensic Geochemistry: Dumping by Foreign Tankers

This study applied forensic geochemistry to correlate the oil spilled on the coast of Northeast Brazil in early 2022 with bottled fuel oil from a marine bunker company that arrived with the oil stains, assessing their characteristics and fate. For this, saturated and aromatic compounds were assessed by conventional and two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) and polar compounds by Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). Resistant biomarkers (e.g., terpanes and steranes) proved that the beached and bottled fuel oils are geochemically correlated and likely originated from oil dumping by an international tanker. Fingerprint dissimilarities are related to volatile (e.g., low-weight n-alkanes) and polar compounds, which are more susceptible to weathering. Their GC-FID profile, PAHs distribution, and acidic and basic polar composition are consistent with heavy fuel oil (HFO), a marine fuel obtained by blending light and residual oils. The GC×GC-FID and FT-ICR MS improved the investigations, enhancing the detection of volatile compounds (light fraction) and heavy and polar compounds (distillation residuum fraction), respectively. Our results disclose that the Brazilian coast is susceptible to oil waste from foreign ships on Atlantic Ocean routes.