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The crude oil contamination along the Brazilian Northeast coast significantly impacted reef ecosystems. This study assessed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in seawater, fluorescence of bile PAHs, and biochemical biomarkers in damselfish Stegastes fuscus across four coral reef areas pre- and post-oil contamination. Serrambi (SE) and Japaratinga (JP1) were identified as suitable reference areas. PAH concentrations significantly increased in water post-contamination, predominantly 2 to 3 ring parent and alkylated PAHs. Biliary PAHs naphthalene, phenanthrene, chrysene, pyrene and benzo(a)pyrene increased on Paiva post-spill versus pre-spill to 173 %, 449 %, 334 %, 331 % and 131 %, respectively. Significant increases in ethoxy-resorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) (852 %), catalase (CAT) (139 %) and decrease in lipid peroxidation (LPO) (40 %) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) (75 %) were verified in Paiva samples. Biliary PAHs and biochemical biomarkers were altered in S. fuscus after exposure to PAHs dissolved from the oil. Stegastes fuscus emerges as a promising sentinel organism for coastal reef oil pollution monitoring.

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In the event of oil spills in offshore oil and gas projects, containment and dispersion equipment must be sent to the affected areas within a critical time by vessels known as oil spill response vessels (OSRVs). Here, we developed an optimization tool, integrated with an oil spill trajectory simulation model, both in deterministic and stochastic alternatives, to support decision-making during the strategic planning of OSRV operations. The tool was constructed in Python using GNOME for oil spill simulations and the GUROBI to solve the optimization model. The tool was applied to a case study in Brazil and afforded relevant recommendations. In terms of research contributions, we proved the viability of the integration between oil spill simulation and mathematical modeling for OSRV strategic operation planning, we explored the stochasticity of the problem with an innovative strategy and we demonstrated flexibility and easy applicability of the framework on real operations.

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Toxicity of water accommodated fractions (WAF) from the oil spilled on the Brazilian coast at different stages of weathering were investigated using Danio rerio. Weathering stages included emulsified oil that reached the coast (OM) and oil collected 50 days later deposited on beach sand (OS) or adhered to shore rocks (OR). Parent and alkylated naphthalenes decreased whereas phenanthrenes increased from less weathered WAF-OM to more weathered WAF-OS and WAF-OR. More weathered WAF-OS and WAF-OR were more potent inducers of zebrafish developmental delay, suggesting that parent and alkylated phenanthrenes are involved. However, less weathered WAF-OM was a more potent inducer of failure in swim-bladder inflation than more weathered WAF-OS and WAF-OR, suggesting that parent and alkylated naphthalenes are involved. Decreases in heart rates and increased heart and skeletal deformities were observed in exposed larvae. Lowest observed effect concentrations for different developmental toxicity endpoints are within environmentally relevant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations.

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The chemical composition of spilt oils from events that took place on the north-eastern coast of Brazil in 2019 and 2022 was investigated to better understand their sources, and post-spill processes. Oils from both events originated from different sources, based on their fingerprints, hydrocarbons composition and specific biomarkers, such as the C23 tricyclic terpane and oleanane. Despite the differences, the source rocks share similarities in paleoenvironments and depositional conditions and both oils suffered little weathering, mainly due to evaporation and dissolution. Our findings for 2019 spilt oil reinforce that it is a mixed product, enriched both in lighter n-alkanes and 25-norhopanes. Differently, the 2022 samples exhibited characteristics of a non-processed crude oil that originated from a paraffinic deposit in storage tanks. The molecular composition and diagnostic ratios reported for samples from these spill events help to establish baselines for ongoing monitoring of oil spills in marine ecosystems.

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The environmental and economic impact of an oil spill can be significant. Biotechnologies applied during a marine oil spill involve bioaugmentation with immobilised or encapsulated indigenous hydrocarbonoclastic species selected under laboratory conditions to improve degradation rates. The environmental factors that act as stressors and impact the effectiveness of hydrocarbon removal are one of the challenges associated with these applications. Understanding how native microbes react to environmental stresses is necessary for effective bioaugmentation. Herein, Micrococcus luteus and M. yunnanensis isolated from a marine oil spill mooring system showed hydrocarbonoclastic activity on Maya crude oil in a short time by means of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) at 144 h: M. luteus up to 98.79 % and M. yunnanensis 97.77 % removal. The assessment of Micrococcus biofilms at different temperature (30 °C and 50 °C), pH (5, 6, 7, 8, 9), salinity (30, 50, 60, 70, 80 g/L), and crude oil concentration (1, 5, 15, 25, 35 %) showed different response to the stressors depending on the strain. According to response surface analysis, the main effect was temperature > salinity > hydrocarbon concentration. The hydrocarbonoclastic biofilm architecture was characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Subtle but significant differences were observed: pili in M. luteus by SEM and the topographical differences measured by AFM Power Spectral Density (PSD) analysis, roughness was higher in M. luteus than in M. yunnanensis. In all three domains of life, the Universal Stress Protein (Usp) is crucial for stress adaptation. Herein, the uspA gene expression was analysed in Micrococcus biofilm under environmental stressors. The uspA expression increased up to 2.5-fold in M. luteus biofilms at 30 °C, and 1.3-fold at 50 °C. The highest uspA expression was recorded in M. yunnanensis biofilms at 50 °C with 2.5 and 3-fold with salinities of 50, 60, and 80 g/L at hydrocarbon concentrations of 15, 25, and 35 %. M. yunnanensis biofilms showed greater resilience than M. luteus biofilms when exposed to harsh environmental stressors. M. yunnanensis biofilms were thicker than M. luteus biofilms. Both biofilm responses to environmental stressors through uspA gene expression were consistent with the behaviours observed in the response surface analyses. The uspA gene is a suitable biomarker for assessing environmental stressors of potential microorganisms for bioremediation of marine oil spills and for biosensing the ecophysiological status of native microbiota in a marine petroleum environment.

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Marine oil spills pose significant ecological and economic threats worldwide, requiring effective decision-making tools. In this study, the optimal parameters, and configurations for Deep Learning models in oil spill classification and segmentation using Sentinel-1 SAR imagery were identified. First, a new Sentinel-1 image dataset was created. Ninety CNN configurations were explored for classification by varying the number of convolutional layers, filters, hidden layers, and neurons in each layer. For segmentation tasks, MLP and U-Net models were evaluated with variations in convolutional layers, filters, and incorporation of IoU and Focal Loss. The results indicated that a CNN model with six layers, 32 filters, and two hidden layers achieved 99 % classification accuracy. For segmentation, the U-Net model with more layers and filters using Focal Loss achieved 99 % accuracy and 96 % IoU. Therefore, a CNN and U-Net framework was proposed that achieves an overall accuracy of 95 % and an IoU of 90 %.

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In 2019, one of Brazil's most significant environmental disasters occurred, involving an oil spill that directly affected Pernambuco state. Contamination along the coast was evaluated by the quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in fifty seawater samples collected in the summer and winter of 2021. Analysis using fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that for all the samples, levels of dissolved/dispersed petroleum hydrocarbons (DDPHs) were higher than the regional baseline for tropical western shores of the Atlantic Ocean. GC-MS analyses quantified 17 PAHs in the samples, with highest total PAHs concentrations of 234 ng L-1 in summer and 33.3 ng L-1 in winter, which were consistent with the highest risks observed in ecotoxicity assays. The use of diagnostic ratios showed that the coast was impacted by a mixture of PAHs from petrogenic and pyrolytic sources. The results indicated the need for continuous monitoring of the regions affected by the 2019 spill.

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Tons of crude oil were found on the Brazilian coast in 2019, and studies assessing its chemical composition are still scarce. This study aimed to develop a new and simple technique of cold vapor generation using infrared irradiation coupled with atomic absorption spectrometry to determine mercury content in sediments contaminated by crude oil. Experimental conditions were evaluated, including formic acid concentration, reactor temperature, and carrier gas flow rate. The accuracy of the method was validated by comparison with mercury contents in a certified reference material (PACS-2). The detection limit was found to be 0.44 µg kg-1. The developed method was applied to determine the total mercury content in marine sediment samples collected from beaches in Ceará State. Mercury concentrations ranged from 0.41 to 0.95 mg kg-1. The proposed method is efficient, simple, low-cost, and adequate for its purpose.

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Sea turtle mortality is often related to materials that reach the coast from different anthropic activities worldwide. This study aimed to investigate whether sea turtle mortality was related to older marine problems, such as solid waste, or one of the largest oil spill accidents on the Brazilian coast, that occurred in 2019. We posed three questions: 1) Are there solid residues in the digestive tract samples, and which typology is the most abundant? 2) Can meso­ and macro-waste marine pollutants cause mortality? 3) Is the dark material found really oil? A total of 25 gastrointestinal content (GC) samples were obtained, of which 22 ingested waste of anthropogenic origin and 18 were necropsied. These 22 samples were obtained during or after the 2019 oil spill, of which 17 specimens were affected, making it possible to suggest oil ingestion with the cause of death in the animals that could be necropsied. Macroscopic data showed that the most abundant solid waste was plastic (76.05 %), followed by fabrics (12.18 %) and oil-like materials. However, chemical data confirmed only three specimens with oil levels ranging from remnants to high. It was possible to infer possible causes of death in 16 of the total 18 necropsied cases: Most deaths were due to respiratory arrest (62.5 %), followed by pulmonary edema (12.5 %), cachexia syndrome (12.5 %), circulatory shock (6.25 %), and head trauma (6.25 %), which may have been caused by contact with solid waste, oil, or both. The study showed that not all dark material found in the GCs of turtles killed in oiled areas is truly oil, and in this sense, a chemical analysis step to prove the evidence of oil must be added to international protocols.

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Mangroves are prone to biotic and abiotic stressors of natural and anthropogenic origin, of which oil pollution is one of the most harmful. Yet the response of mangrove species to acute and chronic oil exposure, as well as to other stressors, remains barely documented. In this study, a non-destructive, non-invasive approach based on field spectroscopy is proposed to unravel these responses. The approach relies on tracking alterations in foliar traits (pigments, sugars, phenols, and specific leaf area) from reflectance data in the 400-2400 nm spectral range. Three mangrove species hit by two of the most notorious oil spills in Brazilian history (1983 and 2019) and various biotic stressors, including grazing, parasitism, and fungal disease, were investigated through field spectroscopy and machine learning. This study reveals strong intra- and interspecific variability of mangrove's spectral and biochemical responses to oil pollution. Trees undergoing acute exposure to oil showed stronger alterations of foliar traits than the chronically exposed ones. Alterations induced by biotic stressors such as parasitism, disease, and grazing were successfully discriminated from those of oil for all species based on Linear Discriminant Analysis (Overall Accuracy ≥76.40% and Kappa ≥0.70). Leaf chlorophyll, phenol, and starch contents were identified as the most relevant traits in stressor discrimination. The study highlights that oil spills affect mangroves uniquely, both acutely and chronically, threatening their global conservation.

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A large-scale oil spill along the northeastern Brazilian coast in 2019-2020 severely impacted primary manatee habitats in Brazil. This study aimed to assess metal and metalloid contamination in a dead manatee calf found following this oil spill. Several elements were detected, including chromium, iron, nickel, lead, and vanadium, which are crude oil components, and thallium, a component of dispersants used to degrade and dissipate crude oil. The presence of these contaminants in the manatee calf is indicative of maternal exposure, metabolism, and newborn transference via placenta and lactation. This is the first report of mother-calf metal transfer in manatees, highlighting the species' vulnerability and potential long-term population dynamics effects, and the first report for several metals and metalloids in these animals, laying the foundation for future research efforts. These findings highlight the urgent need for continued environmental monitoring, ecotoxicological assessments, and conservation initiatives.

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Remote sensing data and numerical simulation are important tools to rebuild any oil spill accident letting to identify its source and trajectory. Through these tools was identified an oil spill that affected Oaxacan coast in October 2022. The SAR images were processed with a standard method included in SNAP software, and the numerical simulation was made using Lagrangian transport model included in GNOME software. With the combining of these tools was possible to discriminate the look-alikes from true oil slicks; which are the main issue when satellite images are used. Obtained results showed that 4.3m3 of crude oil were released into the ocean from a punctual point of oil pollution. This oil spill was classified such as a small oil spill. The marine currents and weathering processes were the main drivers that controlled the crude oil displacement and its dispersion. It was estimated in GNOME that 1.6 m3 of crude oil was floating on the sea (37.2 %), 2.4 m3 was evaporated into the atmosphere (55.8 %) and 0.3 m3 reached the coast of Oaxaca (7 %). This event affected 82 km of coastline, but the most important touristic areas as well as turtle nesting zones were not affected by this small crude oil spill. Results indicated that the marine-gas-pump number 3 in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, is a punctual point of oil pollution in the Southern Mexican Pacific Ocean. Further work is needed to assess the economic and ecological damage to Oaxacan coast caused by this small oil spill.

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RESUMO Este estudo objetivou analisar as ações desenvolvidas pela gestão de saúde no enfrentamento do desastre-crime de derramamento de petróleo na costa pernambucana em 2019. Trata-se de estudo de caso que investigou a atuação do setor saúde em quatro municípios de Pernambuco. A coleta de dados foi mediante entrevistas com 16 gestores de secretarias de saúde (municipal e estadual), utilizando roteiro semiestruturado com perguntas sobre atuação, impactos, ações desenvolvidas, dificuldades, desafios e lições aprendidas. A análise do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo evidenciou quatro eixos temáticos: a) percepção dos gestores sobre os impactos do desastre-crime; b) ações desenvolvidas no processo de gestão de risco do desastre-crime pelo setor saúde; c) dificuldades enfrentadas no processo de mitigação do desastre; d) avaliação das ações da gestão durante o desastre-crime e preparação futura. Identificaram-se fragilidades da gestão em saúde nas ações de mitigação do desastre, resultado da falta de preparo dos serviços e dos profissionais de saúde. A falta de instrumentos e a desarticulação entre os entes federados intensificaram as dificuldades, gerando situações de calamidade no território. Isso aponta para a necessidade de construção de instrumentos e protocolos que guiem tais ações nessas situações, para que as atividades sejam desenvolvidas com mais eficiência e eficácia.

ABSTRACT This study aimed to analyze the actions taken by health management to deal with the criminal disaster of an oil spill off the coast of Pernambuco in 2019. It is a case study investigating the health sector's actions in four municipalities in Pernambuco. Data was collected through interviews with 16 health department managers (municipal and state), using a semi-structured script with questions about performance, impacts, actions taken, difficulties, challenges, and lessons learned. The Collective Subject Discourse analysis revealed four thematic axes: a) managers' perception of the impacts of the crime disaster; b) actions taken in the process of risk management of the disaster crime by the health sector; c) difficulties faced in the process of mitigating the disaster; d) evaluation of management actions during the disaster crime and future preparation. Weaknesses in health management were identified in disaster mitigation actions due to the need for more preparation of health services and professionals. The lack of instruments and coordination between the federated entities intensified the difficulties, generating calamity in the territory. This points to the need to build instruments and protocols to guide such actions in these situations so that activities can be carried out more efficiently and effectively.

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RESUMO O desastre-crime do petróleo em 2019 é tido como o maior desastre ocorrido no litoral do Brasil. Considerada a primeira linha de enfrentamento de desastres no território, a gestão municipal de saúde é fundamental no processo de gestão de risco de desastre. Objetivou-se analisar a atuação de uma secretaria municipal de saúde da região metropolitana do Recife, Pernambuco, em relação ao derramamento do petróleo ocorrido em 2019. Foi realizado um estudo de caso do tipo descritivo com abordagem qualitativa. Foi realizada Análise de Conteúdo, com utilização do software IRaMuTeQ, das entrevistas com gestores da saúde, cujos resultados revelaram quatro categorias: gestão municipal na atenção com o mar; governança de risco de desastre e suas ausências; sindemia da covid-19 e impactos na reabilitação e recuperação das comunidades afetadas pelo desastre do petróleo; o que fazer se um desastre voltar a acontecer. No município em análise, houve a organização antecipada das ações de enfrentamento, a ausência da governança no desastre-crime e o enfoque da gestão em saúde na sindemia da covid-19, que foram apontados como dificuldades e vulnerabilidades na atuação, enquanto a educação permanente e a articulação com pescadores(as) e marisqueiras foram algumas das lições aprendidas.

ABSTRACT The 2019 oil disaster-crime is considered the largest disaster on the Brazilian coast. Given the frontline in disaster response, the municipal health secretariat is crucial in the disaster risk management process. This study aimed to analyze the performance of a municipal health secretariat in the metropolitan region of Recife, Pernambuco, regarding the 2019 oil spill, adopting a descriptive, qualitative case study. We performed content Analysis with the IRaMuTeQ software on interviews with health managers, and the results revealed four categories: municipal management in marine care; disaster risk governance and its absence; the COVID-19 syndemic and its impacts on the rehabilitation and recovery of oil disaster-affected communities; what to do if a disaster strikes again. In the municipality under study, we noted early organization of response actions, the lack of governance in the disaster-crime, and health management focus on COVID-19 syndemic, which were identified as difficulties and vulnerabilities in their actions, while continuing education and coordination with fishermen and shellfish gatherers were among the lessons learned.

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RESUMO Com o objetivo de analisar os processos de vulnerabilização socioambientais e em saúde das populações expostas ao petróleo bruto, no contexto da pandemia de covid-19 e apresentar caminhos para a reparação integral comunitária, este estudo assumiu uma perspectiva teórico-metodológica ancorada na Abordagem Ecossistêmica em Saúde, na Reprodução Social da Saúde e na Determinação Social da Saúde. Recorreu-se à pesquisa-ação como estratégia para a interação dialógica com os sujeitos dos territórios e construção de experiências emancipatórias na luta por saúde, ambiente e desenvolvimento sustentável. Apresenta-se, de forma geral, o processo de determinação social da saúde das comunidades da pesca artesanal, a promoção de interlocuções comunitária-institucional. Os resultados reforçam a necessidade de estudos no campo da saúde ambiental que alie o conhecimento acadêmico e a sabedoria dos povos das águas à busca por verdade, justiça e reparação. Para tal, é necessário desvelar as injustiças ambientais, o racismo ambiental e os conflitos ambientais, dialogando sobre o modelo de desenvolvimento e o neoextrativismo na sociedade, enquanto importantes desafios e oportunidades para promoção de Territórios Saudáveis e Sustentáveis.

ABSTRACT This study adopted a theoretical-methodological perspective anchored in the Ecosystem Approach to Health, the Social Reproduction of Health, and the Social Determinants of Health to analyze the socioenvironmental vulnerability and health of populations exposed to crude oil during the COVID-19 pandemic and present pathways for comprehensive community reparation. We employed action research as a strategy for dialogic interaction with the subjects of the territories and the construction of emancipatory experiences in the struggle for health, the environment, and sustainable development. We presented a general outlook on the social determination of the health of small-scale fishing communities and the promotion of community-institutional dialogues. The results reinforce the need for environmental health studies that combine academic knowledge with the wisdom of water peoples in the pursuit of truth, justice, and reparation. To do so, it is necessary to unveil environmental injustice, racism, and conflicts, engaging in dialogue about the development model and neo-extractivism in society as essential challenges and opportunities for promoting Healthy and Sustainable Territories.

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The oil spill environmental sensitivity index is a key tool for preventing and dealing with environmental disasters caused by oil spills. This study aims to review the available literature on the subject and highlight the importance of methodological advances to improve how the index is applied in continental areas, especially in regions crossed by pipelines. Most current mapping techniques focus on coastal areas and fail to consider the stretches of land that are vulnerable to geodynamic natural disasters. In this context, the need to implement environmental sensitivity indices specific for pipelines has become urgent. This study also presents an overview of the main accidents around the world and a detailed analysis of the history of Brazilian disasters related to oil spills along continental stretches, with a focus on pipelines and natural disasters. In addition, this work highlights the importance of carrying out new research in mountainous areas of Brazil and is aimed at preventing Natechs (natural hazard triggering technological disasters) and improving contingency plans. As a result, several pathways have been identified, which involves the necessity of resolving gaps in terrestrial environmental sensitivity mapping methodologies, particularly as applied to pipelines. Furthermore, solutions must be capable of integrating terrestrial, fluvial, coastal, and maritime environmental sensitivity mapping techniques. Moreover, the need to implement dynamic risk monitoring systems in real time is critical to help manage such a complex problem.

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After the oil spill disaster occurred in 2019, various events of tar balls reaching the Brazilian coast and archipelagos have been reported. The hypothesis here is that the oil/waste dumped in international waters by ships on-route to Cape of Good Hope is reaching the Brazilian coast. On that account, 30-year probabilistic simulations were used to estimate the probability of dumped oil residue reaching the Brazilian coast. The simulations considered three Zones following the South Atlantic route. The results have shown that up to 28.5 % of large ships could dump oil on-route. Inside the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone, the probability of dumped oil/waste reaching the coastline is about 62 % and quickly decreases for Dumping Zones 2 and 3. Equatorial and Northeast shores of Brazil are the most vulnerable to oceanic dumping when compared to other regions.

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Recent arrivals of tar balls have been observed in several tropical beaches associated with the oceanic circulation that flows to the Brazilian continental shelf. Between August and September 2022, tar balls were collected in the northeastern coast of Brazil and analyzed. Nearly 90 % of the oils were colonized by barnacles, polychaetes, decapods, and algae. Most rafting organisms were Lepas anserifera with capitulum measuring 0.32 to 22.21 mm. Based on the growth rate of barnacles and the speed of the SEC it was estimated that tar balls were floating since July and August 2022 and traveled a maximum of 1938.82 km. The organisms and tar balls' possible origin is in the international waters, near to the meso-Atlantic ridge, known for oil tanker traffic. The tar balls, in addition to the oil-related impacts, can act as a vector of long-distance species dispersion, and it needs to raise an alert, considering the possible ecological impacts.

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This research presents a procedure for determining the origin of marine pollution through the use of a time-direct trajectory modeling, associated with a Kriging metamodel technique and Monte Carlo random sampling. These methods were applied to a real case, specifically the oil spill that affected the Brazilian coast in the second half of 2019 and early 2020. A total of 140 trajectories, defined by the geographical coordinates of the origin and the spill date, were generated through Latin Hypercube Sampling and simulated using the PyGNOME model to construct the Kriging metamodel. The metamodel demonstrated cost-effectiveness by efficiently simulating numerous input data combinations which were compared and optimized based on available real data regarding temporal and spatial pollution distribution.

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Since its introduction comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC × GC) has been widely applied to analyze complex samples due to its enhanced peak capacity and selectivity, thereby increasing the number of identifiable peaks and improving coelution issues. Even though it is still undergoing development, GC × GC provides many advantages in the analysis of petroleum-derived samples, whether in reservoir geochemistry applications or in environmental studies associated with spilled oils. In general, it facilitates more thorough fingerprinting and compositional evaluation. In environmental studies, it helps enhance understanding of weathering processes and the environmental behavior of hydrocarbons, as its chromatographic retention indices can robustly estimate liquid vapor pressures, aqueous solubility and other physical chemical properties. This review presents a brief history of GC × GC instrumentation, discussing recent and significant advances in petroleum applications, from data handling techniques to reservoir geochemistry and environmental forensics, as well as some specific advantages achieved and certain limitations that continue to be encountered.