Spatial distribution of PAHs in a contaminated valley in Southeast China

Environmental Geochemistry and Health
Weiqin XingPeter Christie

Abstract

A survey was conducted on the accumulation and spatial distribution of PAHs in surface soils under different land use patterns in a valley in the Yangtze Delta region with an area of 10 km(2) containing 15 small copper- and zinc-smelting furnaces. Sixty-five topsoil (0-20 cm) samples were collected and 16 PAHs were determined. The average amount of all the 16 PAHs ranged from 0 to 530 microg kg(-1) (oven dry basis), with a mean concentration of 33.2 microg kg(-1). Benzo[a]pyrene and indeno[1, 2, 3, -cd]pyrene were the two main PAHs present at high concentrations, while pyrene and fluorene had very low concentrations. PAH concentrations were higher in uncultivated than in cultivated soils, and areas of woods and shrubbery had the lowest soil PAH contents. The average PAH-homologue concentrations ranked as follows: 5-rings > 3-rings, 4-rings > 6-rings >2-rings. Much higher concentrations of PAHs were found in the southern part of the sampling area, perhaps due to deposition of airborne particles by the southeasterly winds in winter and spring. We conclude that the small smelting furnaces were the dominant source of PAHs that accumulated in the soils and the southeasterly winds led to the spatial distribution of PAHs in the topsoi...Continue Reading

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Citations

Oct 12, 2012·Environmental Monitoring and Assessment·Shuangxin ShiXiulan Zhang
Feb 21, 2014·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Jiapei LvWei Meng
Oct 16, 2007·The Science of the Total Environment·Quan-Ying CaiQiao-Yun Zeng
Oct 4, 2014·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Wan-Li MaYi-Fan Li

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