Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in urban soils representing different land use categories in Shanghai

Abstract

An extensive soil survey was carried out in Shanghai to investigate the spatial distribution and possible sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban soils. Soil samples were collected from highways, iron-smelting plants, steel-smelting plants, shipbuilding yards, coking plants, power plants, chemical plants, urban parks, university campuses and residential areas and were analyzed for 16 PAHs by gas chromatography with mass detection. High PAH concentrations were found in all locations investigated, with mean values of soil total PAH concentrations in the range 3,279-38,868 lg/kg DM, and the PAH concentrations were significantly influenced by soil organic matter content. Soil PAH profiles in all districts were dominated by PAHs with 4-6 rings. Principal components analysis and diagnostic ratios of PAHs indicate that they were mainly derived from coal combustion and petroleum but in soils from highways the PAHs were derived largely from vehicle exhaust emissions. The high concentrations of PAHs found indicate that many urban soils in Shanghai represent a potential hazard to public health.

Source and Ecological Risk Characteristics of PAHs in Sediments from Qinhuai River and Xuanwu Lake, Nanjing, China

“…Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a group of typical chemicals containing two or more aromatic rings, are widely distributed in water [1], soil, sediment [2][3][4][5], and air [6]. PAHs have been attracting increasing attention, because many are known to be carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic [7,8], which are serious health threats to organisms.…”

Seasonal attributes of urban soil PAHs of the Brahmaputra Valley

“…Concentration of PAHs is significantly regulated by soil organic carbon (OC) content (Liang et al, 2011). Also, black carbon (BC) is considered to play a major role in distribution of PAHs in soil due to their co-emission and high sorption capacity for PAHs (Agarwal andBucheli, 2011 andLiu et al, 2011).…”

Characterization, Distribution, and Source Analysis of Metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) of Atmospheric Bulk Deposition in Shanghai, China

“…The concentrations of Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn, Pb, and Cd did not display a regular pattern for the sampling sites; however, the highest concentration of Cu was observed at site 4, and the highest concentrations of the other elements were observed at site 5. At these sites, the concentrations were significantly higher than the background, which was most likely due to nearby pollution sources (Liang et al 2011). Because sites 5 and 4 were situated on the urban fringe, they may have been influenced by power generation facilities as well as chemical and coking plants.…”

“…The extraction and cleanup procedures were conducted according to the results of a previous study, as described below (Liang et al 2011). A dust sample (0.50 g) was transferred into a Soxhlet extractor and was extracted for 24 h using 75 mL of an acetone and dichloromethane mixture (1:1, v:v) in a 65°C water bath.…”