First Investigation of Seasonal Concentration Behaviors and Sources Assessment of Aliphatic Hydrocarbon in Waters and Sediments from Wadi El Bey, Tunisia.

First Investigation of Seasonal Concentration Behaviors and Sources Assessment of Aliphatic Hydrocarbon in Waters and Sediments from Wadi El Bey, Tunisia. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2019 Sep 25;: Authors: Gdara I, Zrafi I, Balducci C, Cecinato A, Ghrabi A Abstract The contents, composition profiles, and sources of aliphatic hydrocarbons were examined in surface sediment and water samples collected from Wadi El Bey, in Tunisia, during different year seasons in 14 stations receiving domestic effluent, industrial discharge, and agricultural drainage wastes. The target substances were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometric detection (GC/MS). Total concentrations of n-alkanes (n-C14-n-C38) ranged from 0.08 ± 0.01 to 18.14 ± 0.1 µg/L in waters and 0.22 ± 0.04 to 31.9 ± 24.6 µg/g in sediments, while total aliphatic fraction ranged from 0.08 ± 0.01 to 196 ± 140 µg/L in waters and 0.22 ± 0.04 to 1977 ± 1219 µg/g in sediments, which means that almost all sites were affected by hydrocarbon contents in sediments exceeding the recommended limit (100 µg/g). Various diagnostic indices (ADIs) were used to identify the hydrocarbon sources, namely the concentration ratios of individual compounds (n-C17/pristane, n-C18/phytane, pristane/phytane, n-C29/n-C17, n-C31/n-C19) as well as cumulative quantities (Carbon Preference Index, natural n-alkanes ratio, terrigenous/aquatic comp...
Source: Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Arch Environ Contam Toxicol Source Type: research