Fishing Harbours as a Source of PAHs Pollution: A Case Study from Veraval Harbour, West Coast of India

Worldwide, studies on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) especially focusing on fishing harbours have been found in a limited magnitude only. The characteristics of 16 PAHs and their associated ecological adversities in different environmental compartments of Veraval fishing harbour have been investigated. The concentrations of total PAHs in dissolved, particulate and sediment phases varied from 358.19-42,712 ng L-1, 1450.83-15,291.60 ng g-1 dw and 1263.53-217,560.30 ng g-1 dw, respectively. Two approaches adopted for the source apportionment of PAHs, molecular diagnostic ratio (MDR) method and principal component analysis (PCA), implied the impact of potential anthropogenic PAH sources, including petroleum leakage, pollution from boat repairing, maintenance and burning of coal emissions. The interpretation and integration of indices such as the total toxicity equivalence (TEQcarc), mean risk quotient (M-RQ) and mean effect range-medium quotient (M-ERM-Q) indicated that the harbour areas were under severe threat of ecological risk due to the highest concentration of PAHs, while the offshore region signified a high or moderate level of risk. The present study provides effectual scientific insight into the role of fishing harbours in PAH pollution.