The study of mercury pollution distribution around a chlor-alkali petrochemical complex, Bandar Imam, southern Iran

摘要

Sewage outflow resulting from a chlor-alkali unit of Bandar Imam Petrochemical Complex (BIPC) has been released into the Persian Gulf (Khoor Moosa) for many years, leading to seawater contamination and finally influencing the ecological conditions and the marine ecosystem. In this study, in order to determine the distribution pattern of contaminated points in sea sediments, 15 stations were selected for Hg-content determination in sediments regarding its distribution and relation with contaminant source inflow into the sea. The Hg content of the samples ranged from 0.03 to 103.7 ppm, the maximum of which was detected in a sample collected from a depth of 0–10 cm, somewhere close to a sewage outflow channel of a chlor-alkali unit. Hg content of sediments had a meaningful relationship with chlor-alkali unit outflow volume. As geological setting within the area cannot provide the water with the present level of mercury, the resulting contamination should be due to BIPC activity.