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8102425 
Book/Book Chapter 
Case Study. Oil Spills in the Strait of Malacca, Malaysia 
Zakaria, MP; Takada, H 
2007 
Elsevier Inc. 
Oil Spill Environmental Forensics 
489-504 
English 
This chapter provides case studies related to oil spills in Strait of Malacca and Malaysia. The study shows that C29/C30 and SC31-C35/C30 ratios are not only powerful, but reliable source identifiers of the oil pollution and that high oleanane concentration in tar balls indicates domestic petroleum origin. The analytical results from the first study have established and successfully applied biomarkers as a molecular tool in tracing and determining the sources of oil pollution (MECO vs. SEACO) in the Strait of Malacca. Using the source identifiers, the C29/C30 and SC31-C35/C30 ratios, the origins of 20 tar-ball samples collected from 18 locations in the coastal beaches of Peninsular Malaysia were determined. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) profiles were also utilized to obtain information on weathering of tar balls, and the absence of PAHs was found to be a good indicator of weathering. To determine the distribution and sources of PAHs in Malaysia, sediment samples collected in rivers, estuaries, and the Strait of Malacca were analyzed for PAHs. The methylphenanthrenes to phenanthrene (MP/P) ratio showed a strong correlation with total PAH concentrations with an r2 of 0.74. This ratio and all other compositional features indicated that Malaysian urban sediments are heavily impacted by petrogenic PAHs. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.