ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Concentration of Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbons in Surface Horizons of Soils
in Immediate Neighbourhood
of Illegal Waste Dumps
Jarosław Kaszubkiewicz, Dorota Kawałko, Zbigniew Perlak
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Institute of Soil Science and Environmental Protection,
Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2010;19(1):73-82
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The objective of the study was to determine the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in
soils in the immediate neighbourhood of illegal waste dumps and to determine the mutual relations among the
particular PAHs as well as the relations between PAH and humus of a group of soils with natural and anthropogenically
increased content of those compounds.
Soil samples for the determinations were taken in the immediate neighbourhood of illegal dumping
grounds of municipal wastes and materials that are predominantly construction materials. The collected soil
material was used to determine the grain size composition of the soils, their reaction, content of organic matter
and of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with the method of high-efficiency liquid chromatography with
fluorescence detection.
The study revealed numerous instances of exceeding standard levels of individual PAHs as well as of
their total content. Application of statistical analysis of concentrations permitted the division of the objects
studied into two groups differing notably in the level of individual PAHs as well as in their total concentration.
In the group of objects that were classified as non-contaminated, the existence of positive, statistically significant
correlation was found between the total concentration of PAHs and the content of humus compounds,
while in the group of contaminated objects the correlation was statistically non-significant.