Dept. Marine Environmental Chemistry, Marine Science Center, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq

Abstract

  A survey has been conducted to evaluate pollution by petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC’s) in water, sediments and living organisms of southern Iraqi sectors represented by Shatt Al-Arab River, Khor Al-Zubair, Umm Qasser, Khor Abdullah and the northwest Arabian Gulf. Petroleum hydrocarbons in water as dissolved and particulate, in sediments as exchangeable and residual and in the organs of living organisms were reported for the period 1980-2002. During 1980, levels of PHC's reported in Shatt Al-Arab river ranged from a lower value of 2.6 µg l^-1 in Qurnah and a higher value of 44 µg l^-1 in Basrah, while the range was little bit higher in the estuary of Shatt Al-Arab reaching 16-56 µg l^-1 during the same period. Then this range was lowered afterwards to reach 4-14 µg l^-1 in Shatt Al-Arab and 6-7 µg l^-1 in it’s estuary during the year 1993, then it jumped afterwards to reach 2.5-47 µg l^-1 and 31-80 µg l^-1 in Shatt Al-Arab river and it’s estuary respectively during the year 2000. The same trend was found for the northwest Arabian Gulf. For sediments it seems that TPH's declined from Shatt Al-Arab River towards its estuary, Khor Al-Zubair, Khor Abdullah and the northwest Arabian Gulf.