Abstract
Geochemical and statistical analysis of Sulfur dioxide, Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and heavy metal pollutants (Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni, Fe, Mn, Cr and V) was conducted to soil samples around major oil refineries (Mina Ahmadi, Mina Abdullah and Shuaiba), industries and scanty residential areas in Al-Ahmadi governorate at the southern region of the State of Kuwait. High level of SO2 was found in soil samples of the adjacent area of the refineries (15,000-23,000) ug g-1 and TOC ranging between 0.01 to 1.62 μg g-1 in the soil samples. Furthermore, trace metal analysis in sediment samples revealed high metal levels in the sequence of Fe (17.153 μg g-1) > Zn (151.08 μg g-1) > Ni (112.78 μg g-1) > Pb (27.71 μg g-1) > Mn (404.27 μg g-1) > Cd (0.08 μg g-1) > Cu (23.79 μg g-1) > Cr (56.23 μg g-1) > V (36.53 μg g-1). Cr and V were within the permissible limit. Accordingly, the soil analysis demonstrated that the area around Mina Abdullah refinery was the most polluted area and Shuaiba refinery was the least polluted area, indicating the significance of pollution due to the increase of emissions from the refineries and factories in the area. The level of pollution is alarming, health effected and environmental monitoring is highly recommended.
Highlights
The State of Kuwait is located in the Middle East; in the Northern part of the Arabian Peninsula, occupying the northwestern corner of the Arabian Gulf
In comparison with the international standards and researches, the present study finds high Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and trace metals levels in soil samples that were correlated with several factors including wind direction, rapid industrialization and anthropogenic sources
As regards the stations, trace metal analysis revealed high metal levels in the sequence of S2>S3>S1, which indicated that the precipitations of the particulates in the refineries missions were close to the refineries' area
Summary
The State of Kuwait is located in the Middle East; in the Northern part of the Arabian Peninsula, occupying the northwestern corner of the Arabian Gulf. The production capacity of Kuwait's southern oil refineries is approximately 936 thousand barrels/day that distributes as follows: Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery (446 thousand barrels/day) consists of four flaring stacks, AlShuaiba Refinery (200 thousand barrels/day) has two flares and Mina Abdullah Refinery (470 thousand barrels/day) contains six flares (Fig. 2). The emission of these flares could cause pollution, which could have a severe influence on the industrial area and urban localities in the vicinity of oil refineries (Abdul-Wahab et al, 2000). Measurements were taken for the Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and the selected trace metals such as Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni, Fe, Mn, Cr and V
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