Quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon derivatives in the Arabian coastal seawater and freshwater samples

Persian Gulf is a busiest sea area as a result of pollution by various oils and fossil fuels containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s). Nowadays, water pollution is one of the most serious issues globally. In the past few years, certain chemical pollutants, such as PAH’s caused environmental concerns. Industrialization plays a major role in water pollution as most of the industrial wastes and byproducts are dumped into the water untreated. The untreated waste contains potent chemicals often with severe effects on the living organisms exposed to them. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC–MS) method for the detection and extraction of PAH’s coastal seawater and freshwater samples collected from six different locations in the Sultanate of Oman such as Matrah port, Al Mouj Marina, Sohar port, Salalah port, Duqm port, and Falaj Daris. A total of 64 samples were collected from the selected locations and the samples was processed as well as extracted PAH’s with dichloromethane (DCM) twice. The DCM extract was passed through the silica gel column and evaporated by rotary evaporator and analyzed by LC/MS. The results showed the presence of four PAH’s such as acenaphthylene, benzo[a]pyrene, 1,2-benzanthracene, and indene. These PAH’s are present in almost samples. The highest concentration present were 0.1201 ppb of Acenaphthylene in Salalah port, 0.8377 ppb for Benzo[a]pyrene in Matrah port, 0.2297 ppb for 1,2-Benzanthracene in Duqm port, and 5.6734 ppb for Indene in Salalah port. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) standards, the PAH’s concentration in the collected sea and freshwater samples are above the permissible levels. Therefore, strict regulations must be adopted to control the PAH’s concentration in the sea and freshwater to avoid their negative effects on human being and marine ecosystems.