Preliminary Assessment of Occurrence, Potential Origin, and Human Health Risk of Volatile Organic Compounds in Uncontrolled Springs, North Morocco
In recent years, with the drastic increase in worldwide pollution rates, considerable attention has been paid to the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that might lead to serious health problems, e.g., cancer. As there appears to be a notable lack of research on the pollution (specifically, VOCs) of...
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Metabolites |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/12/12/1213 |
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| author | Wafae Lechhab Fabrizio Cincotta Touria Lechhab Concetta Condurso Farida Salmoun Francesco Cacciola Antonella Verzera |
| author_facet | Wafae Lechhab Fabrizio Cincotta Touria Lechhab Concetta Condurso Farida Salmoun Francesco Cacciola Antonella Verzera |
| author_sort | Wafae Lechhab |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In recent years, with the drastic increase in worldwide pollution rates, considerable attention has been paid to the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that might lead to serious health problems, e.g., cancer. As there appears to be a notable lack of research on the pollution (specifically, VOCs) of water bodies in Morocco, we aimed to assess the occurrence of VOCs in some uncontrolled springs in the north of Morocco that have not been previously investigated. We also discuss the estimation of health risks posed by ingestion and dermal contact as well as the different potential origins of these pollutants. For this purpose, water samples were collected from twenty-six sampling sites and were analyzed via headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS). Out of the 60 suspected VOCs, a total of 15 compounds belonging to five distinct groups were identified and quantified. Among them, fumigants, solvents, and gasoline hydrocarbons were the most abundant groups, with proportions of 40%, 26.7%, and 20%, respectively. A heatmap clustered the provinces based on their degree of pollution, while a dendrogram was used to classify the studied springs into six main groups. Regarding carcinogenic risk, all the samples were safe for consumption as well as for dermal contact, except for S17, S18, and S8, and S19, which might present a severe threat to inhabitants due to their contents of, respectively, naphthalene (2.1 × 10<sup>−3</sup>), chloroform (2.5 × 10<sup>−4</sup>), and cis and trans-dichlropropene (1.61 × 10<sup>−4</sup> and 1.11 × 10<sup>−4</sup>). Our investigation revealed several anthropogenic sources of water contamination, which could aid authorities in limiting contamination spread in water bodies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:06:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6d1d8dfbfd40444ca8d6233fdb8c6fa1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2218-1989 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:06:10Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Metabolites |
| spelling | doaj.art-6d1d8dfbfd40444ca8d6233fdb8c6fa12023-11-24T16:37:38ZengMDPI AGMetabolites2218-19892022-12-011212121310.3390/metabo12121213Preliminary Assessment of Occurrence, Potential Origin, and Human Health Risk of Volatile Organic Compounds in Uncontrolled Springs, North MoroccoWafae Lechhab0Fabrizio Cincotta1Touria Lechhab2Concetta Condurso3Farida Salmoun4Francesco Cacciola5Antonella Verzera6Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Materials, Natural Substances and Environment, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology Tangier, Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Tangier 90090, MoroccoDepartment of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, Polo Universitario Dell’Annunziata, Viale G. Palatucci, 98168 Messina, ItalyLaboratory of Physical Chemistry of Materials, Natural Substances and Environment, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology Tangier, Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Tangier 90090, MoroccoDepartment of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, Polo Universitario Dell’Annunziata, Viale G. Palatucci, 98168 Messina, ItalyLaboratory of Physical Chemistry of Materials, Natural Substances and Environment, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology Tangier, Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Tangier 90090, MoroccoDepartment of Biomedical, Dental, Morphological and Functional Imaging Sciences, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, Polo Universitario Dell’Annunziata, Viale G. Palatucci, 98168 Messina, ItalyIn recent years, with the drastic increase in worldwide pollution rates, considerable attention has been paid to the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that might lead to serious health problems, e.g., cancer. As there appears to be a notable lack of research on the pollution (specifically, VOCs) of water bodies in Morocco, we aimed to assess the occurrence of VOCs in some uncontrolled springs in the north of Morocco that have not been previously investigated. We also discuss the estimation of health risks posed by ingestion and dermal contact as well as the different potential origins of these pollutants. For this purpose, water samples were collected from twenty-six sampling sites and were analyzed via headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS). Out of the 60 suspected VOCs, a total of 15 compounds belonging to five distinct groups were identified and quantified. Among them, fumigants, solvents, and gasoline hydrocarbons were the most abundant groups, with proportions of 40%, 26.7%, and 20%, respectively. A heatmap clustered the provinces based on their degree of pollution, while a dendrogram was used to classify the studied springs into six main groups. Regarding carcinogenic risk, all the samples were safe for consumption as well as for dermal contact, except for S17, S18, and S8, and S19, which might present a severe threat to inhabitants due to their contents of, respectively, naphthalene (2.1 × 10<sup>−3</sup>), chloroform (2.5 × 10<sup>−4</sup>), and cis and trans-dichlropropene (1.61 × 10<sup>−4</sup> and 1.11 × 10<sup>−4</sup>). Our investigation revealed several anthropogenic sources of water contamination, which could aid authorities in limiting contamination spread in water bodies.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/12/12/1213springwatervolatile organic compoundsorigin of pollutionhealth risk assessmentHS-SPME-GC/MSNorth Morocco |
| spellingShingle | Wafae Lechhab Fabrizio Cincotta Touria Lechhab Concetta Condurso Farida Salmoun Francesco Cacciola Antonella Verzera Preliminary Assessment of Occurrence, Potential Origin, and Human Health Risk of Volatile Organic Compounds in Uncontrolled Springs, North Morocco Metabolites springwater volatile organic compounds origin of pollution health risk assessment HS-SPME-GC/MS North Morocco |
| title | Preliminary Assessment of Occurrence, Potential Origin, and Human Health Risk of Volatile Organic Compounds in Uncontrolled Springs, North Morocco |
| title_full | Preliminary Assessment of Occurrence, Potential Origin, and Human Health Risk of Volatile Organic Compounds in Uncontrolled Springs, North Morocco |
| title_fullStr | Preliminary Assessment of Occurrence, Potential Origin, and Human Health Risk of Volatile Organic Compounds in Uncontrolled Springs, North Morocco |
| title_full_unstemmed | Preliminary Assessment of Occurrence, Potential Origin, and Human Health Risk of Volatile Organic Compounds in Uncontrolled Springs, North Morocco |
| title_short | Preliminary Assessment of Occurrence, Potential Origin, and Human Health Risk of Volatile Organic Compounds in Uncontrolled Springs, North Morocco |
| title_sort | preliminary assessment of occurrence potential origin and human health risk of volatile organic compounds in uncontrolled springs north morocco |
| topic | springwater volatile organic compounds origin of pollution health risk assessment HS-SPME-GC/MS North Morocco |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/12/12/1213 |
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