Distribution of total petroleum hydrocarbons in superficial sediments of Karun River Basin, southwest of Iran: spatial and seasonal variations, source identification, and ecological risk

ABSTRACT

Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) are common environmental pollutants in aquatic ecosystems that tend to adsorb onto the sediments. This study aimed to monitor the concentration and assessment of contamination level of TPHs in the sediments of Karun River and Bahmanshir estuary, which will eventually flow into the Persian Gulf. GIS-mapping technique was used to indicate the distribution of TPHs. The samples were collected during dry and wet seasons at 15 monitoring stations. - The maximum amount of TPHs was obtained at station No. 14 in the dry season (225.29 μg/g). The indices of determining the pollution source showed that hydrocarbons in polluted areas were mainly of biogenic origin. Compared to sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) and contamination factor (Cf), the study area sediments were in the conditions of moderate pollution and had a low ecological risk.

KEYWORDS:

• Petroleum hydrocarbons
• distribution
• sediments
• ecological risk
• Karun River

Acknowledgments

This article was extracted from Ph.D. thesis of Mahboobeh Dehvari and was financially supported by Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (Grant no ETRC-9908).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Funding

This work was supported by -Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences [ETRC-9908].