International Journal of Marine Science 2016, Vol.6, No.48, 1-10
1
Research Article Open Access
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Soil of West Qurna-2 Oil Field
Southern Iraq
Duha S. Karem
1
, Hamzah A. Kadhim
1
, Hamid T. Al-Saad
2
,
1 Department of Geology, College of Science, University of Basrah, Iraq
2 College of Marine Science, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq
Corresponding author email
International Journal of Marine Science 2016, Vol.6, No.48 doi
Received: 15 Oct., 2016
Accepted: 28 Nov., 2016
Published: 05 Dec., 2016
This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Karem D.S., Kadhim H. A., and Al-Saad H.T., 2016, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Soil of West Qurna-2 Oil Field Southern Iraq,
International Journal of Marine Science, 6(48): 1-10 (doi
Abstract
This study focused on the determinate concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon by using capillary gas
chromatographic for soil of ten stations in West Qurna-2 oil field. The first included light (low molecular weight) compounds with
two-three fused aromatic rings which consisting of: naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene,
and carbazole. The second included the heavy (high molecular weight) compounds with four or more fused aromatic rings
consisting of: floranthene, pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(b)flouranthene, benzo(k)flouranthene, benzo(a)pyrene,
indeno(1,2,3,c,d)pyrene, dibenzo(a,h)anthracene,
and
benzo(g,h,i)perylene. The dominant light PAHs compounds were
acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene and carbazol. Whereas the dominant heavy PAHs compounds
were floranthene, pyrene, benzo(a)pyrene
,
benzo(a)anthracene
,
benzo(k)flouranthene. The regional higher mean concentrations of
PAHs in station 10 was (5.906 ng/g) and the lowest in station 1 (1.125 ng/g). The results of seasonal PAHs concentration in this study
showed that the lowest concentrations recorded during summer (1.214 ng/g), while the highest concentrations recorded during winter
(4.177ng/g). From the LMW/HMW, phenanthrene/anthracene and benzo(a)anthracene/benzo(a)anthracene+ chrysene ratios, the
PAHs compound was drived from pyrogenic sources, while Flouranthene/Pyrene Ratio and InP/(InP+BghiP) Ratio was pyrogenic+
petrogenic origin and petrogenic or pyrogenic and Ant/(Ant+ Phen) Ratio was pyrolytic. Concentrations in studied stations gradually
increased from station 1 to station 5, and then significantly decreased at station 6 and finally increased to station 10. The fluctuation
in concentrations of compound at stations is due to distance from the flame of the flare which near to the stations 8,9,10 and far to the
stations 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, while the seasonal concentration arrange as following: winter >spring >autumn>summer.
There were non-significant correlation between the PAHs in soil and each of the soil texture compounds (sand, silt and clay), while
there is significant correlation between the PAHs in soil and TOC%.
Keywords
PAHs; Soil; Pollution; West Qurna- 2 oil field; Southern Iraq
Introduction
Crude and refined petroleum contains PAHs (i.e., petrogenic PAHs). The PAHs are also produced by combustion of
fossil fuel (coal and petroleum) and biomass (i.e., pyrogenic PAHs). There are also natural sources of PAHs released
to the environment (Zakaria et al., 2002). They can transport over long distances in the atmosphere and deposit in
faraway areas, so that they are widely found in the environment (Wang et al., 2015).
The physical, chemical and toxicological properties of PAHs compounds are different and therefore, their evaluation in
nature is required. The most grounded cancer-causing agents have been appeared to be benzo(a)anthracene,
benzo(a)pyrene and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene. They are multimedia contaminants, reported at elevated levels in several
environmental examples i.e. dust, particulate matter, sludge and sewage of different region of the world (Patel et al.,
2015). Low molecular weight (LMW) PAHs, containing two or three fused rings, are more water soluble and volatile,
along these lines they are more available, than high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs which containing four or more fused
rings, hence (LMW) PAHs are more susceptible to different degradation processes. Long term exposure to hydrocarbon
compounds can bring about different unsettling in human life in terms of comfort and health (Al-Hejuje et al., 2015).
