Alkanes in shrimp from the Buccaneer oil field

Abstract

From the Conclusions: “Only thirteen of the forty shrimp collected from the region of the Buccaneer oil field contained petroleum alkanes, and the majority of these were obtained from trawls immediately adjacent to the production platforms. It appears that shrimp caught in the region of the Buccaneer oil field are not appreciably tainted with hydrocarbons discharged from the production platforms. GIAM et al. (1976) found that shrimp obtained from the Gulf of Mexico had a maximum alkane concentration at C31. Four of our shrimp (XII, XIV, XVIII, XXXI) had similar hydrocarbon profiles. The other shrimp, which contained only biogenic hydrocarbons, had maximum alkane concentrations at C17 or C21. The discrepancies in the analytical results can probably be ascribed to dietary variation.”