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Distribution and source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the surface soil of Baise, China

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Abstract

To estimate the distribution and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the soils of Baise, in southwest China, soil sampling sites were selected from industry, traffic, rubbish, gas station, residential, and suburban areas for analysis of PAHs. The average concentrations of ∑16PAHs in the present study varied significantly, depending on the sampling location, and ranged from 16.8 to 6,437.0 μg/kg (dry weight basis), with a mean value of 565.8 μg/kg. PAH concentrations decreased significantly along the industry–traffic–rubbish–gas station–residential–suburban transect. The PAH profiles in the surface soil of the different areas imply that either source proximity to the sampling sites, or transport and deposition effects influenced PAH distributions. Two diagnostic ratios were selected and used to apportion PAH sources in the surface soil, and bivariate plots show general trends of covariation. Principal component analysis and multivariate linear regression were used to determine the primary sources and their contributions of PAHs to the soils. The model showed that factors 1 (coal and wood combustion) and 2 (petroleum combustion) contributed over 52.1 and 32.5 % of the total source of soil PAHs, respectively. The remaining 15.4 % came from evaporative and uncombusted petroleum.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundations of China (No. 41163007), the Natural Science Foundations of Guangxi Province (No. 2012GXNSFAA053036), and the Foundations of Guangxi Educational Committee (No. 201010LX505).

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  1. Department of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Baise University, 21 2nd Zhongshan Road, Baise City, Guangxi, 533000, China

    Bingfang Shi, Qilin Wu, Huixiang Ouyang, Xixing Liu, Jinlei Zhang & Weiyuan Zuo

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  1. Bingfang Shi
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  2. Qilin Wu
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Shi, B., Wu, Q., Ouyang, H. et al. Distribution and source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the surface soil of Baise, China. Environ Monit Assess 187, 232 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4465-y

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