Characterization of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Dora region, Lebanon

Abstract

Water and sediment pollution is a growing environmental issue. Organic pollutants are introduced to the marine environment by shipping activities, oil spills, coastal oil industries and fossil fuel combustion. These pollutants can be transported to different environmental compartments, namely the sediments. In Lebanon, only a few studies focused on the characterization of organic pollutants in the sediments. The objective of this project is to identify and determine the concentration of organic pollutants, in particular Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), in the port of Dora. In order to achieve this aim, pre-sampling, sediment sampling, lyophilization, Soxhlet extraction, rotary evaporation and gas chromatography were performed. The total PAHs concentrations ranged from 2.90 to 430.51 µg/kg dry weight. The highest amounts were found in the samples taken from two locations inside the port.