Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in urban soil from Beijing, China

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (EPA-PAHs) in the urban surface soils from Beijing were determined using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS). It is significantly complementary for understanding the PAHs pollution in soil of integrated Beijing city on the basis of the information known in the outskirts. The total concentration of 16 EPA-PAH was from 0.467 to 5.470 microg/g and was described by the contour map. Compound profiles presented that the 4-, 5- and 6-ring PAHs were major compositions. The correlation analysis showed that PAHs have the similar source in the most sampling sites and BaP might be considered as the indicator of PAHs. Characteristic ratios of anthracene (An)/(An+ phenanthrene (Phe)), fluoranthene (Flu)/(Flu+ pyrene (Pyr)) and benzo [a]pyrene (BaP)/benzo [g,h,i]perylene (BghiP) indicated that the PAHs pollutants probably mainly originated from the coal combustion and it was not negligible from vehicular emission. The level of PAHs in our study area was compared with other studies.