Marine pollution in the Libyan coastal area: Environmental and risk assessment

A comprehensive assessment of the potential adverse effects on environment and human health generated by the
inputs of chemicals from the most important Libyan petrochemical plant is presented. Ecotoxicological risk
associated with the presence of As, Hg, Ni, Zn and PAHs in marine sediments is low or moderate, with a
probability of toxicity for ecosystem<9% and<20% for heavy metals and PAHs respectively. However, surface
sediments result strongly enriched in Hg and As of anthropogenic origin. Investigation of metals in fish
allowed to assess potential risks for human populations via fish intake. Target hazard quotients values indicate
potential risk associated to toxic metals exposure by fish consumption and lifetime cancer risk (TR) values
highlight a potential carcinogen risk associated to As intake. Noteworthy, the presented results provide an
unprecedented environmental dataset in an area where the availability of field data is very scant, for a better
understanding of anthropogenic impacts at Mediterranean scale.