Availability and Potential Value of Hydrocarbon Contamination in soil and groundwater in surrounding area around Iran Antibiotic Factory, Sari, Mazandaran Province

In this study, the possibility of contamination of some aromatic compounds with high toxicity in surrounding area around antibiotic's factory of Iran was evaluated. pH, organic matter, organic carbon, soil texture and non-volatile organic compounds of 26 samples were tested and the type of pollution was determined. Groundwater sampling, including three consecutive steps includes Pumping of groundwater from nine wells around the factory and analyzing with gas chromatography, the second stage of pumping from 14 wells and analyzing by Gc-Mass, and the third stage of sampling was done by serving Niskin instrument by possibility of drawing of contamination's profile of wells. Suspended solids and volatiles due to water turbidity was measured in wells and the results indicated absence of non-volatile contaminants in the soil. Factory solvent's and soil sample's charts did not fit. Therefore, the possibility of main solvent's factory in soil samples tested was rejected. Some peaks in the graphs Gas Chromatography, showed good overlap with the heavier compounds such as pesticides, fertilizers and agricultural chemicals. Underground water pollution results in all three stage of sampling of water wells, did not show any pollutants except methane peaks. Increasing suspended solids and volatile suspended in all wells, indicated favorable conditions for decomposition of organic matter by microorganisms and biological degradation in this region. Thus, despite the emission of contamination, due to the high level of underground water, distribution and transport phenomena of convection with the water flow to the sea (the slope of the ground layer), evaporation and biological degradation, concentration of pollutants reached to negligible levels over five years (the time interval between the pipe fracture till test time).