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 (21.1 μg/kg) and LBZ (20.8 μg/kg) zones, while the lowest PAHs concentrations were in PNBA (15.0 μg/kg) and PDlt (14.6 μg/kg). Additionally, the carcinogenic and ecological risk potentials were higher in the PNkt and LBZ zones, 10.1–10.6 for carcinogenic potential and 0.010–0.017 for ecological risk. These results highlight a high PAHs-pollution due to growing anthropogenic pollution pending on this vulnerable region, which should be taken into consideration for the sustainable management of Mauritania's coastal resource. [Display omitted] •Mauritanian Atlantic coast was grouped into 2 stressed zones and 2 unstressed.•16EPA-PAHs were measured for coastal sediment samples and corresponding biotissue.•Sediment PAHs levels per zone are low, according to the Baumard classification.•Mean PAHs per zone were significantly higher in stressed zones than in unstressed.•toxic and ecological PAHs potentials were higher in stressed zones than unstressed.