Distribution and Source Apportionment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Forest Soils from Urban to Rural Areas in the Pearl River Delta of Southern China

Yihua Xiao, Fuchun Tong, Yuanwen Kuang and Bufeng Chen
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Yihua Xiao: Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China
Fuchun Tong: College of Forestry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Yuanwen Kuang: Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Bufeng Chen: Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China

IJERPH, 2014, vol. 11, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: The upper layer of forest soils (0–20 cm depth) were collected from urban, suburban, and rural areas in the Pearl River Delta of Southern China to estimate the distribution and the possible sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Total concentrations of PAHs in the forest soils decreased significantly along the urban–suburban–rural gradient, indicating the influence of anthropogenic emissions on the PAH distribution in forest soils. High and low molecular weight PAHs dominated in the urban and rural forest soils, respectively, implying the difference in emission sources between the areas. The values of PAH isomeric diagnostic ratios indicated that forest soil PAHs were mainly originated from traffic emissions, mixed sources and coal/wood combustion in the urban, suburban and rural areas, respectively. Principal component analysis revealed that traffic emissions, coal burning and residential biomass combustion were the three primary contributors to forest soil PAHs in the Pearl River Delta. Long range transportation of PAHs via atmosphere from urban area might also impact the PAHs distribution in the forest soils of rural area.

Keywords: forest soils; Pearl River Delta; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; source apportionment; urban-rural gradient (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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