Profile, source and ecological risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) along the Mauritanian Atlantic Coast, unveiling the silent menace.

The Mauritanian Atlantic coast is a vital economic and environmental region, currently facing increasing anthropogenic pressures, leading to pollution such as PAHs contamination which threatens its ecological integrity and economic value. To assess this pollution the coast was divided into 4 zones: 2 anthropogenically stressed (LBZ and PNkt) and 2 unstressed (PNBA and PDlt); next, 16EPA-PAHs concentrations were determined in sediments and bio-tissues. In sediments, the highest 16EPA-PAHs concentrations, as mean per zone, were found in PNkt (21.