Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene isomers (BTEX) are known to affect environmental air and health quality. In this study, the levels of BTEX compounds were determined in indoor air environments during the winter generated by several different heaters: diesel pot-bellied heater with chimney (DH); electric heater (EH); unfluted gas heater (GH); kerosene heater (KH); and wood pot-bellied heater with chimney (WH). The samples were collected using a diffusion passive adsorbent (activated charcoal) and then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed that the heaters differ in the quantity of BTEX released during operation. The KH was the most polluted heater based on BTEX measurement, followed by DH. The ∑BTEX for heaters were observed as follows: KH (290 μg m⁻³); DH (120 μg m⁻³); GH (84 μg m⁻³); WH (31 μg m⁻³); EH (16 μg m⁻³). Toluene was the predominant compound in all air samples. In KH and DH, the toluene to benzene ratios (T/B) were higher than 4 due to fuel evaporation, while GH had a T/B ratio of 3.9, indicating that the combustion of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was the main source. Moreover, a risk assessment was performed to evaluate where the cancer risks (CR) for benzene and ethylbenzene exceeded the critical values (10⁻⁶). KH was found to be the most harmful heater for residents, followed by DH and GH. For non-carcinogenic compounds, hazard quotients (HQ) were found to be less than one and thus unlikely to cause health problems.

This manuscript evaluates spatial and temporal variations of source contributions to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian cities. Twenty-four hour integrated PM2.5 samples were collected every six days over a 1-year period (January to December 2007) in four cities in Israel (West Jerusalem, Eilat, Tel Aviv, and Haifa), four cities in Jordan (Amman, Aqaba, Rahma, and Zarka), and three cities in Palestine (Nablus, East Jerusalem, and Hebron). The PM2.5 samples were analyzed for major chemical components, including organic carbon and elemental carbon, ions, and metals, and the results were used in a positive matrix factorization (PMF) model to estimate source contributions to PM2.5 mass. Nine sources, including secondary sulfate, secondary nitrate, mobile, industrial lead sources, dust, construction dust, biomass burning, fuel oil combustion and sea salt, were identified across the sampling sites. Secondary sulfate was the dominant source, contributing 35% of the total PM2.5 mass, and it showed relatively homogeneous temporal trends of daily source contribution in the study area. Mobile sources were found to be the second greatest contributor to PM2.5 mass in the large metropolitan cities, such as Tel Aviv, Hebron, and West and East Jerusalem. Other sources (i.e. industrial lead sources, construction dust, and fuel oil combustion) were closely related to local emissions within individual cities. This study demonstrates how international cooperation can facilitate air pollution studies that address regional air pollution issues and the incremental differences across cities in a common airshed. It also provides a model to study air pollution in regions with limited air quality monitoring capacity that have persistent and emerging air quality problems, such as Africa, South Asia and Central America.

The leaves of date palms were evaluated as a possible biomonitor of heavy metal contamination in Ma’an city, Jordan. Concentrations of (Fe), (Pb), (Zn), (Cu), (Ni), and (Cr) were determined in washed and unwashed leaves and soil samples collected from different sites with different degrees of metal contamination (urban, suburban, industrial, highway and rural sites); separate leaves were taken from outside the city to be used as a control sample. Samples collected from industrial sites were found to have high concentrations of all metals except those of Cu, Ni and Pb, which were found at high levels in the highway site samples which is associated with the road traffic. The difference between unwashed and washed samples showed that metal pollutants exist as contaminants, particularly Pb, Zn and Ni, which varied in concentration, depending on the source of the metal.

Sewage input into a karst aquifer via leaking sewers and cesspits was investigated over five years in an urbanized catchment. Of 66 samples, analyzed for 25 pharmaceuticals, 91% indicated detectable concentrations. The former standard iodinated X-ray contrast medium (ICM) diatrizoic acid was detected most frequently. Remarkably, it was found more frequently in groundwater (79%, median: 54 ng/l) than in wastewater (21%, 120 ng/l), which is supposed to be the only source in this area. In contrast, iopamidol, a possible substitute, spread over the aquifer during the investigation period whereas concentrations were two orders of magnitude higher in wastewater than in groundwater. Knowledge about changing application of pharmaceuticals thus is essential to assess urban impacts on aquifers, especially when applying mass balances. Since correlated concentrations provide conclusive evidence that, for this catchment, nitrate in groundwater rather comes from urban than from rural sources, ICM are considered useful tracers.

The Gulf of Aqaba is of significant strategic and economic value to all gulf-bordering states, particularly to Jordan, where it provides Jordan with its only marine outlet. The Gulf is subject to a variety of impacts posing imminent ecological risk to its unique marine ecosystem. We attempted to investigate the status of metal pollution in the coastal sediments of the Jordanian Gulf of Aqaba. The distribution of Cd, Cr, Zn, Cu, Pb, Al, Fe, and Mn concentrations were determined in trapped and bottom-surface sediments at three selected sites at different depths. In addition, monthly sedimentation rates at varying water depths were also estimated at each sampling site using sediment traps. The high concentrations of Cd, Cr, Zn were recorded at the Phosphate Loading Birth (PLB) site followed by the Industrial Complex (IC) site indicating their dominant anthropogenic source (i.e., the contribution of industrial activities). However, Fe, Al, and Mn contents were related to inputs from the terrigenous (crustal) origin. Except for Al, Fe and Mn at the PLB site, the concentrations of metals exhibited a decreasing trend with increasing water depth (distance from the shoreline). The PLB site also showed the highest sedimentation rate which decreased with increasing water depth. The Enrichment factors (EFs) showed that Cd was the most enriched element in the sediment (indicating that Cd pollution is widespread), whereas the least enriched metal in sediments was Cu. EF values suggested that the coastal area is impacted by a combination of human and natural sources of metals, where the anthropogenic sources are intense in the PLB site (north of Gulf of Aqaba). The MSS area is potentially the least polluted, consistent with being a marine reserve. The IC sediments have been found to be impacted by human activities but less intensely compared to the PLB area. These results suggested that there are two sources of metals in sediments; the primary source is likely closer to PLB, while the secondary is nearby the IC.