Development in Analytical Chemistry Volume 1, 2014 www.seipub.org/dac
Detection of Anthropogenic Aliphatic and PAHs Fractions in the Near‐shore Waters Along Alexandria Coasts, Egypt Tarek O. Said*1,2, Laila A. Mohamed1, Mohamed A. Okbah1, Islam M. Othman1 Marine Chemistry, National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Alexandria, Egypt.
1
Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, KSA.
2 *
tareksaideg@yahoo.co.uk; lila_salam@yahoo.com; m_okbah@yahoo.com; islam_shalaby_2007@yahoo.com
Received 21 September 2014; Accepted 24 December 2014; Published 29 December 2014 © 2014 Science and Engineering Publishing Company Abstract The determination of the residual fractions of 19 aliphatic fractions and 16 PAHs fractions were determined in the near‐shore surface water of Alexandria coast, Egypt. The total average concentrations of aliphatic hydrocarbons fractions (from C10 to C32), varied from a minimum of 670.27 ngL‐1 recorded at Abu Qir to a maximum of 4514 ngL‐1 recorded at El‐Shatby station with a total average of 2435 ngL‐1 during 2013‐2014. The average PAHs values ranged from 1223 to 11183 ng/l with an average value of 4326 ng/l during 2013‐2014. The ∑CARC was the highest during August 2013 with an average of 50.29 ngL‐1. Total hydrocarbon concentrations (THC= ∑ALIP+∑PAHs) were ranged from 1894‐15698 ngL‐1 with an average of 6763 ngL‐1. Keywords Surface Water; PAH; Alexandria; Egypt; GC‐MS
Introduction Scientific interest in the quality of marine ecosystems is quite recent and has especially increased in the past 15 years in relation to application of the European Union (EU)ʹs Water Framework Directive (WFD), (European Commission 2000). In coastal areas where various human activities take place, effects have already become obvious, having social, economic and environmental impacts. However, the quality of marine waters is directly related to the presence and storage of a large number of xenobiotics (Nikolaou et al. 2009). Of all marine pollutants, hydrocarbons have received the greatest attention due primarily to the highly lethal effects of most hydrocarbons on marine organisms, especially aromatics class. Hydrocarbons as potential environmental contaminants are an
assemblage of substances coming from various sources including biogenic, petrogenic and pyrolytic (WHO 1979; Yunker et al. 1993; Page et al. 1996; UNEP 1996; Hostettler et al. 1999; Wilet and Edward 2000; Wu et al. 2001; Gao and Chen 2008).The occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the marine environment has attracted the attention of the scientific community, as these compounds are frequently detected in seawater and sediments at increasing levels and have adverse health effects on marine organisms and humans. Several PAHs are potential human carcinogens and are included in the priority list of the European Union’s Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). Sixteen PAHs, identified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as priority pollutants (Keith and Telliard 1979;Venkatesan et al. 1982; Manoli et al. 2000; Nieva et al. 2001; Zhanga et al. 2004; Tang et al. 2005; Said and Hamed 2006b; Guo et al. 2007), are a class of organic pollutants which have an important impact on marine ecosystems because they include the largest known class of chemical carcinogens and mutagens (Neff 1979; WHO/UNEP 1990; Witt 1995; Tolosa et al. 2004; Cardellicchio et al. 2007; Binelli et al. 2008). Although the study of pollutants in the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea have been investigated by numerous workers (Said et al. 1994; Barakat 2004; Shreadah et al. 2006; El Deeb et al. 2007; Emara et al. 2008; Emara and Shreadah 2009). Along the Mediterranean coast of Alexandria city, there are many areas with high activities of shipping and pleasure boating activities, incorporating numerous Harbours and marinas (Berrojalbiz et al. 2011). The
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