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Composition, sources, and potential toxicology of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in agricultural soils in Liaoning, People’s Republic of China

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Abstract

Surface soil (0–20 cm) samples (n = 143) were collected from vegetable, maize, and paddy farmland used for commercial crops in Liaoning, China. Sixteen priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) listed in US Environmental Protection Agency were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography using a fluorescence detector. The soil concentrations of the 16 PAH ranged from 50 to 3,309 ng/g with a mean of 388 ng/g. The highest concentration of total PAHs found in soil of the vegetable farmland was 448 ng/g in average, followed by maize and paddy with total PAHs of 391 and 331 ng/g, respectively. Generally, the low molecular weight PAHs were more predominant than the high molecular weight PAHs in most of the soils. The evaluation of soil PAH contamination based on the Canadian criterion indicated that only naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene were over the target values in several sampling sites. Isomer pair ratios and principal component analysis indicated that biomass and coal combustion were the main sources of PAHs in this area. And the average value of total B[a]Peq concentration in vegetable soils was higher than paddy and maize soils. We suggest that biomass burning should be abolished and commercial farming should be carried out far from the highways to ensure the safety of food products derived from commercial farming.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support received from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants nos. 20977094, 41171155 and 40930739).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Pollution Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenhe District, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, 110016, People’s Republic of China

    Xiu Feng Cao & Yu Fang Song

  2. Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Xiu Feng Cao

  3. State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, People’s Republic of China

    Miao Liu

  4. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood 3125, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    M. Leigh Ackland

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  1. Xiu Feng Cao
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  2. Miao Liu
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Correspondence to Yu Fang Song.

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Cao, X.F., Liu, M., Song, Y.F. et al. Composition, sources, and potential toxicology of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in agricultural soils in Liaoning, People’s Republic of China. Environ Monit Assess 185, 2231–2241 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2704-z

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