University Of Tehran Press Pollution 2383-451X 12 3 2026 09 01 Separation and Characterization of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) from Iraqi Oil Refinery Waste using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) 1000 1009 108313 10.22059/poll.2026.416175.3373 EN Zainab Talib Abd Al-Kadhum Department of Optometry Techniques, Al-Musaib Technical College, Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University, Babylon, Iraq 0000-0003-2816-8238 Fatma H Abdulla University of Baghdad Al-Jaderyia Campus College of Science-department of biology, Baghdad, Iraq Dhuha T Al-Sultani Polymer engineering and Petrochemical Industries Department, University of Babylon, Iraq Journal Article 2026 06 16 In the paper, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in oil refinery waste produced in Baghdad Province, Iraq were analyzed with the help of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Wastewater and sludge samples of various sampling sites were analyzed and found to contain sixteen EPA priority PAHs. Soxhlet extraction method was used to extract the analytes and an Agilent 6890N/5975C GC-MS system equipped with HP-5MS capillary column was used to analyze them. Findings indicated the presence of total PAHs of 567.8 to 3750.7 ng/L in wastewater with high molecular weight PAHs (5-6 rings) taking over the profile (49.41%-81.67% of total PAHs). Phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene were the most widespread. Diagnostic ratio analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the pyrogenic sources were the main cause of PAHs especially during the combustion of petroleum products and vehicle emissions. The incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) evaluation showed values over 10 -4 which showed a strong carcinogenic risk that must be addressed immediately. The study will yield essential baseline information on monitoring and control of risks on the environments in the oil refining areas of Iraq. https://jpoll.ut.ac.ir/article_108313_73114e87346293f3b9f143c036801b1d.pdf