Monitoring organic pollutants from aliphatic hydrocarbons in Soil Samples within the shoreline in Gulf of Suez, Egypt

Abstract

The principal goal of this research is to evaluate the current extent of anthropogenic contamination as a combination of both time and location in the shoreline in Suez Gulf. This oil re fi nery contamination was mostly the result of improper hydrocarbon disposal, which led to water leaks caused by equipment damage, vandalism, and accidents, which will ultimately pollute groundwater or release waste into the Gulf of Suez. Seven composite sediment samples were taken from a test plot. Total petroleum hydrocarbons were found in concentrations of 21.96, 23.58, 37.56, 54.48, 57.36, 33.96, and 23.04 g/kg, respectively. Hydrocarbons distribution were examined on a Hewlett-Packard (HP-7890 plus) gas chromatograph with a fl ame ionization detector. The resolved n-alkanes (R c ) were found to be 0.088, 0.087, 0.193, 0.091, 0.099, 0.123, and 0.177 m g/g. The results showed that the hydrocarbons are originated from terrestrial inputs. Several ratios of hydrocarbons indicated the predominance of petrogenic hydrocarbons. This was supported by high normalized aliphatic hydrocarbons concentrations; signi fi cant contributions of unresolved complex mixture; low n-alkane carbon preference index and even-to-odd carbon number predominance. Therefore, the chronic oil pollution in the area may be due to the large quantities of re fi ned products and the limited capabilities of water treatment units located in the studied areas.