Bhupander Kumar, Jyoti Tyagi, V. K. Verma, Richa Gaur and C. S. Sharma
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) released to the environment are petrogenic sources and pyrogenic sources. Sixteen PAHs have been listed as priority pollutant by the US Environmental Protection Agency. This study deals with the distribution of concentration, possible sources identification and health risk of selected priority PAHs in residential street soils from an industrial city. The concentrations of ΣPAHs ranged 36 – 898 μg kg-1 with an average value of 315 ± 67 μg kg-1. The concentration of studied, probable human carcinogenic PAHs accounted for 60% of ΣPAHs. Benzo(a)pyrene Toxicity Equivalency (BaPTEQ) for studied PAHs was estimated and ranged 0.61 – 197 μg BaPTEQ kg-1with the mean value of 46.78 ± 15.97 μg BaPTEQ kg-1. The composition profile analysis and diagnostic molecular ratios of PAHs suggested mixed pyrogenic sources of PAHs from combustion of coal and diesel combustions in vehicles and industrial activities. Potential risk to contaminated ground water from leaching of carcinogenic PAHs and from soil was assessed by estimating the Index of Additive Cancer Risk (IACR) and found to be less than safe limit. Study concluded that concentrations of selected PAHs were within acceptable limits of soil quality guidelines and the study area got classified as weakly contaminated
