Distribution and Sources of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Sediments of Khure Musa, Persian Gulf

Khure Musa area with high ecological and biological importance and accommodated divers fauna can be influenced by huge pollutants industrial discharge, it is necessary to monitor in this critical environment. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the major groups of chemical pollutants owing to their widespread distribution in the environment and carcinogenic and mutagenic effects to living organisms.
In this study distribution and sources of 15 PAHs and their sources in the sedimentsof estuaries khure Musa were determined. Sampling and analysis were perfprmed in july 2010. Samples of sediment collected from five Estuarine, namely Jafari, Ahmadi, Ardoleh, Ghazaleh and merimos. Collected samples were immediately transferred to hexane rinsed glass jars with aluminum foil inserts and transported in dry ice to the laboratory and kept frozen at -20 °C prior to analysis. An aliquot of the samples were taken for dry weight determination. The sediments were dried with anhydrous sodium sulphate and soxhlet, following extraction for about 8 hours using dichloromethane. The extract was then charged to 1st step and 2nd step column chromatography to fractionate hydrocarbons. The fractions were analyzed by gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (GCMS). The recovery of PAHs was more than 70%.
The total concentrations of PAHs in sediment were ranged from 703 to 3302 ng/g Dry weight. The highest concentration were observed at stations Jafari,Ahmadi and Ardoleh, respectively. The sediment samples from the khure Musa can be considered moderate to high polluted with PAHs. The results of study suggested that the main sources of PAHs in Estuaries of Khure Musa are a mixture of both pyrolitic and petrogenic with predominant petrogenic imputes in jafari estuarine.