PANS AND FAECAL STEROLS IN SEWAGE POLLUTED MARINE ENVIRONMENTALONG THE EASTERNRED SEA COAST, SOUTH OF JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA

PANS AND FAECAL STEROLS IN SEWAGE POLLUTED MARINE

ENVIRONMENTALONG THE EASTERNRED SEA COAST, SOUTH OF

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA

BY
GUL R. NIAZAND MOHAMED A. El SAYED*
*Faculty ofMarine Science, King Abdulaziz University. PO Box 80207,
Jeddah 21589 Saudi Arabia.
Key words: PAHs, Faecal sterols, tracer, Sewage, Coastal area, Red Sea
ABSTRACT
Sediments and water samples, taken near a sewage discharge point on the
Eastern Red Sea coast south of Jeddah, were analyzed for faecal sterols
cholesterol, coprostanol and cholestanol content and PARs. PARs ranged
from 0.7 to 18.7 j..Lg t l in water and 0.5 to 11.5 j..Lg g.I in sediments. The
concentration ofcoprostanol in water showed a minimum of3.6 j..Lg rl and a
maximum of 27.6 j..Lg rI
, while in sediments it was significantly high reaching
1200 j..Lg g’} at the discharge point. Cholesterol and cholestanol were also
found in appreciable concentrations particularly close to the discharge point.
The behavior ofsterols in water was found to be conservative and the ratios of
coprostanol and cholestanol to cholesterol were constant in water and
sediments. Results indicate that the complete mineralization of cholesterol is
very low. The value ofr* (5fJ15fJ + Sa) was always higher than 0.7 indicating
a definite and positive sewage contamination injecting almost the whole study
area.