Spatial variation of PAHs and PCBs in coastal air, seawater, and sediments in a heavily industrialized region

Concurrent coastal seawater (n = 22), sediment (n = 22), and atmospheric samples (n = 10) were collected in the Aliaga industrial region, Turkey, to explore the spatial variation, sources, and air-seawater exchange of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Seawater Σ₁₆PAH concentrations (particle + dissolved) ranged between 5107 and 294,624 pg L⁻¹, while Σ₄₁PCB concentrations were in the range of 880–50,829 pg L⁻¹. Levels in sediments were highly variable ranging between 35.5–49,682 and 2.7–2450 μg kg⁻¹ in dry weight for Σ₁₆PAHs and Σ₄₁PCBs, respectively. Atmospheric concentrations varied between 1791–274,974 and 104–20,083 pg m⁻³ for Σ₁₆PAHs and Σ₄₁PCBs, respectively. Sediment organic matter (OM) content and levels of Σ₁₆PAHs and Σ₄₁PCBs correlated weakly (r ² = 0.19–0.23, p < 0.05) suggesting that the spatial variations of PAHs and PCBs were mainly affected by local sources rather than their sorption to OM. The geographical distribution of PAH and PCB concentrations in air, seawater, and sediment and factor analysis on the sediment levels pointed out that the major sources in the region are steel plants, petroleum refinery, petrochemical complex, ship breaking, loading/unloading activities at the ports, vehicular emissions, and fossil fuel combustion emissions. The direction of the air-seawater exchange was also explored by estimating seawater fugacity fractions of PAHs and PCBs. For PAHs, the number of cases implying deposition (43.0%) and volatilization (39.5%) was similar, while for PCBs, the number of cases implying volatilization (60.4%) was much higher compared to deposition (21.6%). Fugacity fractions were generally <0.36 (deposition) at the sites close to industrial and ship breaking activities where the highest seawater and sediment levels were measured, implying that atmospheric deposition is an important mechanism affecting seawater and sediment PAH and PCB levels.