Jiamei Zhang
Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, China
Title: Partition, sources and risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water, sediment, and soil from the middle reach of Huai River
Biography
Biography: Jiamei Zhang
Abstract
The distribution of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water, sediment and soil samples from the middle reach of Huai River were analyzed by a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The total concentration of Σ16PAHs ranged from 783.83 to 1475 ng/L in water, 552.48 to 1199.57 ng/g dw. (dry weight) in sediment, and from 498.85 to 1322.83 ng/g dw. in soil. The spatial distributions of Σ16PAHs revealed that PAHs contamination in water, sediment, and soil from the middle reach of Huai River were at the midpoint of the global ranges. Along the vertical profiles of water column, higher Σ16PAHs levels were seen in surface and bottom layers. The PAHs distribution in each depth of water column is found to be controlled by organic carbon, but the correlations between PAHs and organic carbon were not observed in sediment and soil. We observed that no correlations existed between particulate-water partition coefficient (Kow) and organic carbon between water and sediment system. The principal component analysis suggests that coal combustion and refined petroleum products combustion were the primary PAHs contributors in the studied water, sediment, and soil. The risk assessment of PAHs indicated that PAHs contamination in sediment-soil system might list as middle levels, but high ecological risk of PAHs in water column.