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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments from the Bizerte Lagoon, Tunisia: levels, sources, and toxicological significance

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Abstract

To assess the status of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination in sediments from the Bizerte Lagoon (northern Tunisia), 18 surface sediment samples were collected in March 2011 and analyzed for 14 US Environmental Protection Agency priority PAHs by high-performance liquid chromatography. The total concentrations of the 14 PAHs (ΣPAHs) ranged from 16.9 to 394.1 ng g−1 dry weight (dw) with a mean concentration of 85.5 ng g−1 dw. Compared with other lagoons, coasts, and bays in the world, the concentrations of PAHs in surface sediments of the Bizerte Lagoon are low to moderate. The PAHs’ composition pattern was dominated by the presence of four-ring PAHs (45.8 %) followed by five-ring (26.8 %) and three-ring PAHs (12.7 %). The PAH source analysis suggested that the main origin of PAHs in the sediments of the lagoon was mainly from pyrolytic sources. According to the numerical effect-based sediment quality guidelines of the USA, the levels of PAHs in the Bizerte Lagoon should not exert adverse biological effects. The total benzo[a]pyrene toxicity equivalent values calculated for the samples varied from 3.1 to 53.7 ng g−1 dw with an average of 10.6 ng g−1 dw.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Tunisia. The author would also like to thank the language expert Nayua Abdelkefi for proofreading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Environmental Analytical Chemistry (05/UR/12-03), University of Carthage, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, 7021 Zarzouna, Bizerte, Tunisia

    Badreddine Barhoumi, Walid Ben Ameur & Mohamed Ridha Driss

  2. CNRS, EPOC (UMR 5805), Laboratory of Physico- and Toxico-Chemistry of the Environment (LPTC), University Bordeaux 1, 351 cours de la Libération, 33405, Talence Cedex, France

    Badreddine Barhoumi, Karyn LeMenach, Marie-Hélène Devier, Hélène Budzinski & Jérôme Cachot

  3. CNRS, EPOC (UMR 5805), ECOBIOC, University Bordeaux 1, avenue des facultés, 33405, Talence Cedex, France

    Henry Etcheber

  4. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, 7021 Zarzouna, Bizerte, Tunisia

    Mohamed Ridha Driss

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  1. Badreddine Barhoumi
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  2. Karyn LeMenach
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  3. Marie-Hélène Devier
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  4. Walid Ben Ameur
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  5. Henry Etcheber
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  6. Hélène Budzinski
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  7. Jérôme Cachot
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  8. Mohamed Ridha Driss
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Correspondence to Mohamed Ridha Driss.

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Barhoumi, B., LeMenach, K., Devier, MH. et al. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments from the Bizerte Lagoon, Tunisia: levels, sources, and toxicological significance. Environ Monit Assess 186, 2653–2669 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3569-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3569-5

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