Determination and dynamic analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil and plant samples

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are hazardous environmental contami nants. Benzo[alpha]pyrene, a typical example of PAHs, is suspected to be an endocrine disrupter. Reported here are the results of the determination of PAHs in soil from several locations in Tokushima and plant samples, such a s rice straw, polished rice and unpolished rice. Samples were extracted for 16 h with 120 mi of dichloromethane using a soxhlet thimble. The extract p ortion was then cleaned by passing it through activated silica gel with ace ton/hexane (5/95, v/v). The PAHs were analyzed by HPLC and GC/MS. This meth od was successfully applied to the determination of PAHs in real environmen tal sam plea. The determination limits for PAHs were in the range of 0.1 si milar to 0.5 mu g/kg for soils and plants. Replicate analyses gave errors r anging between +/- 10 similar to 30% for soils and plants. According to thi s determination, some PAHs, including benzo[alpha]pyrene, can be detected i n soil samples and plants. For instance, the total concentration of detecte d PAHs was 250 mu g/kg in soil samples of University of Tokushima.