Atmospheric concentration of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) at Umm-Al-Aish oil field-Kuwait

- High concentrations of PCDD/Fs indicate that the oil industry have an important impact on the levels of in ambient air.
- Low concentrations of dl-PCBs detected in Umm-Al-Aish suggest that there is no significant influence of the oil industry.
- A unique dioxin profile was found in the ambient air samples collected in the Umm-Al-Aish's oil field.

A sampling campaign was carried out to assess the impact of the oil field activities on the concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) in ambient air at Umm Al-Aish oil field in northern Kuwait. Sixteen samples were collected from March 2014 to January 2015. The concentrations of ΣPCDD/Fs were relatively high (33.6-586 fg I-TEQ/m3; median: 94.7 fg I-TEQ/m3; 31.2 to 516 fg WHO-TEQ2005/m3; median: 83.7 fg WHO-TEQ2005/m3) compared to those of dl-PCBs (3.9-36.8 WHO-TEQ2005/m3; median 9.9 WHO-TEQ2005/m3). A unique PCDD/F profile that was not previously reported was found. Further investigations should be conducted to establish whether the dioxin profile found in this study is specific for the desulfurization facility located in the study area or from oil flaring in the oil fields located upstream of the study area. The findings suggest that the oil field activities have a significant impact on the PCDD/F concentration in ambient air but a low or negligible influence on dl-PCBs' levels.