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In the last century, application of fossil fuel as the primary source of energy caused environmental pollution in many countries including Malaysia. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are an important class of petroleum contamination. Two sediment cores were collected from the Tebrau Strait at the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia near the border line to Singapore, where entering into the South China Sea. The samples were sliced in certain intervals, extracted with Dichloromethane in Soxhlet apparatus, cleaned and fractionated in 2-steps column chromatography, and analyzed in Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry. The results showed that PAHs input were started soon after World War II and exponentially increased from 1980 onward by 310 ng/g d. w., in comparison it was negligible and probably nature derived during 18 th and 19 th century. The application of compound-specific ratios and pentacyclic teriterpanes suggested the vicinity of sources that atmospherically transported to the sampling locations. They were originated from combusted oil of Southeast Asian and the Middle East, polluting urban sediment and street dusts prior to final deposition. Biomass burning appeared historically as a predominant minor background pollution of both cores. Remarkably, crankcase oil was not traced in this study while it was reported as a predominant source in Malaysia. This study suggested ocean-going ships and Singapore International Airport as the main sources of petroleum pollution in recent decades since there was insignificant rural development surrounding the studied area.

Massive development over the past century has led to environmental oil-related pollution around the Malaysian city of Malacca. To characterize the concentration, sources, and origins of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Malacca's coastal water in the Strait of Malacca, sediment cores from near shore and offshore were collected and analyzed. The highest concentration of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Near Shore station core was 4447 ng/g dry weight (dw) (1963-1969), and the lowest was 177 ng/g dw (1949-1955). The lowest concentration of PAHs in the Near Shore sample was 452 ng/g dw (1991 to 1997). In general, the Offshore core showed lower concentrations of total PAHs than did the Near Shore core, ranging from 1.71 (1914-1920) to 714.37 ng/g dw (1963-1969). Diagnostic tools such as specific compound, isomer ratio, and hopane characteristics indicate pollution by petroleum and combustion of oils from Southeast Asia and the Middle East in the study area since the1940s.

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