Distribution and Sources of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Around a Petroleum Refinery Rejection Area in Jarzouna-Bizerte (Coastal Tunisia)

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the refinery rejection area of STIR, Tunisia's unique oil refinery located on the Jarzouna coast, were investigated. Two depth layers from three sites beside the refinery and one site some distance away from it were considered. The total concentration of 17 PAHs ranged from 916.42 ± 0.012 ng/g to 3146.2 ± 0.151 ng/g in Layer-I and from 962 ± 0.003 ng/g to 4541.1 ± 0.009 ng/g in Layer-II. The PAH profiles showed that the 4–5-ring compounds were the major PAHs detected in most sampling sites. Characteristic ratios of anthracene (Anth)/(Anth + phenanthrene (Phe)), and fluoranthene (Flu)/(Flu + pyrene (Pyr)) indicated that the PAH pollutants could originate from petrogenic and pyrolytic sources. Overall, our results indicate moderate contamination of the Jarzouna sediments with PAHs. However, even at moderate levels, PAHs levels in this marine environment must be controlled and reduced due to their possible side-effects on the ecosystems and human safety.

Keywords:

• hydrocarbons
• PAHs
• sediments
• petroleum refinery

Acknowledgements

We thank STIR refinery employees of Bizerte for their help in sediment sampling. We are grateful to Dr. Brahim Lahlou, Emeritus Professor, University of Nice, France, for the manuscript revision. We also thank Mr. Moncef Rassas, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Monastir, Tunisia, and Mr. Mahmoud Rouabhia, Professor and researcher at the Faculty of Dentistry of Laval University of Quebec, Canada, for their assistance with the linguistic corrections and scientific correction of this paper. This study was partly supported by grants from the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Biotechnology of Tunisia, and the University of Monastir.

Notes

*: p < 0.05 vs SMTB1;

^#: p < 0.05 vs SMTB2;

^§: p < 0.05 vs SMTB3;

^Ψ: p < 0.05 vs SMTB4.

*: p < 0.05 vs SMTB1;

^#: p < 0.05 vs SMTB2;

^§: p < 0.05 vs SMTB3;

^Ψ: p < 0.05 vs SMTB4.