Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in sediments of marine coastal lagoons in Messina (Italy). Extration and GC-MS analysis. Distribution and sources

The content of 21 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been determined in 16 samples of sediments collected from Ganzirri and Faro marine coastal lagoons in Messina (Italy). Analysis was performed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The total concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) ranged from 74 to 5755 ...g/Kg of dry matrix. The resulting distributions and molecular ratios of specific compounds have been discussed in terms of sampling location and origin of organic matter. The results obtained show that levels of contamination are not homogeneous throughout the stations, while the relative distributions of PAH are homogeneous in the most of the sampling stations. The organic matter content and PAH concentration have been found to be correlated (r = 0.90). It is also shown that the pyrolytic origin is the main source of these compounds in Ganzirri and Faro Lakes sediments.