title: Occurrence and sources of natural and anthropogenic lipid tracers in surface soils from arid urban areas of Saudi Arabia.
abstract: Soil particles contain a variety of natural and anthropogenic organic components, and in urban areas can be considered as local collectors of pollutants. Surface soil samples were taken from ten urban areas in Riyadh during early winter of 2007. They were extracted with dichloromethane-methanol mixture and the extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The major compounds were unresolved complex mixture (UCM), plasticizers, n-alkanes, carbohydrates, n-alkanoic acids, hopanes, n-alkanols, and sterols. Vegetation detritus was the major natural source of organic compounds (24.0 ± 15.7%) in samples from areas with less human activities and included n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids, n-alkanols, sterols and carbohydrates. Vehicular emission products and discarded plastics were the major anthropogenic sources in the soil particles (53.3 ± 21.3% and 22.7 ± 10.7%, respectively). The anthropogenic tracers were UCM, plasticizers, n-alkanes, hopanes and traces of steranes. Vegetation and human activities control the occurrence and distribution of natural and anthropogenic extractable organic matter in this arid urban area.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Green Energy Research, Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; College of Earth, Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen. Electronic address: aimrushdi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ahmed I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Rushdi
authors.affiliation: Chair of Green Energy Research, Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Khalid F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Al-Mutlaq
authors.affiliation: Chair of Green Energy Research, Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Aarif H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: El-Mubarak
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Al-Saleh
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mubarak T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: El-Otaibi
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Sami M M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.affiliation: Chair of Green Energy Research, Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; Department of Chemistry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
authors.forename: Bernd R T
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Simoneit
mesh_terms: D045424:Complex Mixtures / Q000032:analysis*; D003889:Desert Climate; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis*; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis; D010968:Plasticizers / Q000032:analysis; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014507:Urbanization; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D045424:Complex Mixtures; D008055:Lipids; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D010968:Plasticizers; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D001335:Vehicle Emissions
keywords: Biomarkers; Lipids; Petroleum residues; Plasticizers; Soils