Non‐target profiling of bitumen‐influenced waters for the identification of tracers unique to oil sands processed‐affected water (OSPW) in the Athabasca watershed of Alberta, Canada
Rationale The objective of this study was to identify unique chemical tracers of oil sands process‐affected water (OSPW) to enable definitive discrimination of tailings pond seepage from natural bitumen‐influenced waters from the Canadian Alberta McMurray formation. Methods The approach involved com...
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crwiley:10.1002/rcm.8984 2024-09-15T17:55:11+00:00 Non‐target profiling of bitumen‐influenced waters for the identification of tracers unique to oil sands processed‐affected water (OSPW) in the Athabasca watershed of Alberta, Canada Milestone, Craig B. Sun, Chenxing Martin, Jonathan W. Bickerton, Greg Roy, James W. Frank, Richard A. Hewitt, L. Mark Environment and Climate Change Canada 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rcm.8984 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/rcm.8984 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/rcm.8984 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry volume 35, issue 3 ISSN 0951-4198 1097-0231 journal-article 2020 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.8984 2024-07-09T04:16:46Z Rationale The objective of this study was to identify unique chemical tracers of oil sands process‐affected water (OSPW) to enable definitive discrimination of tailings pond seepage from natural bitumen‐influenced waters from the Canadian Alberta McMurray formation. Methods The approach involved comparing unknowns from an unprecedented sample set of OSPW ( n = 4) and OSPW‐affected groundwaters ( n = 15) with natural bitumen‐influenced groundwaters ( n = 20), using high‐performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation high‐resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI‐HRMS) operated in both polarities. Results Four unknown chemical entities were identified as potential tracers of OSPW seepage and subsequently subjected to structural elucidation. One potential tracer, tentatively identified as a thiophene‐containing carboxylic acid [C 15 H 23 O 3 S] − , was only detected in OSPW and OSPW‐affected samples, thereby showing the greatest diagnostic potential. The remaining three unknowns, postulated to be two thiochroman isomers [C 17 H 25 O 3 S] + and an ethyl‐naphthalene isomer [C 16 H 21 ] + , were detected in one and two background groundwaters, respectively. Conclusions We advanced the state of knowledge for tracers of tailings seepage beyond heteroatomic classes, to identifying diagnostic substances, with structures postulated. Synthesis of the four proposed structures is recommended to enable structural confirmations. This research will guide and inform the Oil Sands Monitoring Program in its efforts to assess potential influences of oil sands development on the Athabasca River watershed. Article in Journal/Newspaper Athabasca River Wiley Online Library Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 35 3 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Rationale The objective of this study was to identify unique chemical tracers of oil sands process‐affected water (OSPW) to enable definitive discrimination of tailings pond seepage from natural bitumen‐influenced waters from the Canadian Alberta McMurray formation. Methods The approach involved comparing unknowns from an unprecedented sample set of OSPW ( n = 4) and OSPW‐affected groundwaters ( n = 15) with natural bitumen‐influenced groundwaters ( n = 20), using high‐performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation high‐resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI‐HRMS) operated in both polarities. Results Four unknown chemical entities were identified as potential tracers of OSPW seepage and subsequently subjected to structural elucidation. One potential tracer, tentatively identified as a thiophene‐containing carboxylic acid [C 15 H 23 O 3 S] − , was only detected in OSPW and OSPW‐affected samples, thereby showing the greatest diagnostic potential. The remaining three unknowns, postulated to be two thiochroman isomers [C 17 H 25 O 3 S] + and an ethyl‐naphthalene isomer [C 16 H 21 ] + , were detected in one and two background groundwaters, respectively. Conclusions We advanced the state of knowledge for tracers of tailings seepage beyond heteroatomic classes, to identifying diagnostic substances, with structures postulated. Synthesis of the four proposed structures is recommended to enable structural confirmations. This research will guide and inform the Oil Sands Monitoring Program in its efforts to assess potential influences of oil sands development on the Athabasca River watershed. |
author2 |
Environment and Climate Change Canada |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Milestone, Craig B. Sun, Chenxing Martin, Jonathan W. Bickerton, Greg Roy, James W. Frank, Richard A. Hewitt, L. Mark |
spellingShingle |
Milestone, Craig B. Sun, Chenxing Martin, Jonathan W. Bickerton, Greg Roy, James W. Frank, Richard A. Hewitt, L. Mark Non‐target profiling of bitumen‐influenced waters for the identification of tracers unique to oil sands processed‐affected water (OSPW) in the Athabasca watershed of Alberta, Canada |
author_facet |
Milestone, Craig B. Sun, Chenxing Martin, Jonathan W. Bickerton, Greg Roy, James W. Frank, Richard A. Hewitt, L. Mark |
author_sort |
Milestone, Craig B. |
title |
Non‐target profiling of bitumen‐influenced waters for the identification of tracers unique to oil sands processed‐affected water (OSPW) in the Athabasca watershed of Alberta, Canada |
title_short |
Non‐target profiling of bitumen‐influenced waters for the identification of tracers unique to oil sands processed‐affected water (OSPW) in the Athabasca watershed of Alberta, Canada |
title_full |
Non‐target profiling of bitumen‐influenced waters for the identification of tracers unique to oil sands processed‐affected water (OSPW) in the Athabasca watershed of Alberta, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Non‐target profiling of bitumen‐influenced waters for the identification of tracers unique to oil sands processed‐affected water (OSPW) in the Athabasca watershed of Alberta, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Non‐target profiling of bitumen‐influenced waters for the identification of tracers unique to oil sands processed‐affected water (OSPW) in the Athabasca watershed of Alberta, Canada |
title_sort |
non‐target profiling of bitumen‐influenced waters for the identification of tracers unique to oil sands processed‐affected water (ospw) in the athabasca watershed of alberta, canada |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rcm.8984 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/rcm.8984 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/rcm.8984 |
genre |
Athabasca River |
genre_facet |
Athabasca River |
op_source |
Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry volume 35, issue 3 ISSN 0951-4198 1097-0231 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.8984 |
container_title |
Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry |
container_volume |
35 |
container_issue |
3 |
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1810431512244387840 |