Source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments from Khuzestan province, Iran

Josephine Lübeck, Kristoffer Gulmark Poulsen, Sofie B. Knudsen, Mohsen Soleimani, Søren Furbo, Giorgio Tomasi, Jan H. Christensen

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Khuzestan, Iran is heavily industrialised with petrochemical and refinery companies. Herein, sediment and soil samples were collected from Hendijan coast, Khore Mosa and Arvandroud River. The CHEMSIC (CHEmometric analysis of Selected Ion Chromatograms) method was used to assign the main sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollution. A four-component principal component analysis (PCA) model was obtained. While principal component 1 (PC1) was related to the total concentration of PAHs, the remaining PCs described three distinct sources: PC2 and PC3 collectively differentiate between weathered petrogenic and pyrogenic, and PC4 is indicative for a diagenetic input. The sources of PAHs in the Arvandroud River were mainly relatively fresh oil with some samples corresponding to a weathered oil input. Further, perylene (indicator for diagenetic source) was identified. Samples from Khore Mosa revealed a mixture with high proportions of high-molecular-weight PAHs, indicating a pyrogenic/weathered petrogenic source. Samples from Hendijan coast contained low relative concentrations of PAHs, thus only little information on pollution sources.
Original languageEnglish
JournalMarine Pollution Bulletin
Volume110
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)584-590
Number of pages7
ISSN0025-326X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Sept 2016

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