Aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments from Elefsis Bay, Greece (Eastern Mediterranean)

Abstract

Surface sediments were collected from Elefsis Bay (Greece), an area receiving important industrial and domestic pollution, between 1994 and 1995. The sediments were analyzed for composition of aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHC) and polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) by GC/MS. AHC concentrations over all sampling periods and stations ranged from 85.7 to 1062 μg/g dry sediment, while PAH concentrations ranged from 481 to 11182 ng/g dry sediment. These levels were comparable to those reported for other coastal areas highly influenced by industrial and urban effluents. Several diagnostic indexes, such as unresolved/resolved compounds ratio (U/R), carbon preference index of n‐alkanes (CPI), pristane/phytane ratio (Pr/Ph), identification of specific pentacyclic triterpanes and distribution patterns of PAH as well as specific ratio values of PAH compounds were used in order to distinguish between natural and diverse anthropogenic hydrocarbon inputs.