| Abstract: | The contamination by 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface soils, sampled at a 0-5 cm depth in the urban areas of Tallinn, Helsinki, Vilnius, Chicago, London is reported. All samples were analyzed using the same protocol. The median concentrations ( w g/kg) were found to be 117, 539, 127, 3,263, 1,728 for pyrene; 62, 236, 43, 1,634, 1,652 for benzo a ]pyrene; 86, 304, 92, 2,295, 2,068 for benzo a ]pyrene toxic equivalents, calculated using the benzo a ]pyrene toxic equivalency factors; 467, 1,471, 392, 8,981, 6,837 for a total of seven probable human carcinogenic PAHs: benzo a ]anthracene, chrysene, benzo b ]fluoranthene, benzo k ]fluoranthene, benzo a ]pyrene, dibenz ah ]anthracene, indeno1,2,3- cd ]pyrene; 911, 2,941, 672, 16,183, 13,718 for the total of 16 PAHs, recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo a ]anthracene, chrysene, benzo b ]fluoranthene, benzo k ]fluoranthene, benzo a ]pyrene, dibenz ah ]anthracene, benzo ghi ]perylene, indeno1,2,3- cd ]pyrene in Tallinn ( n = 3), Helsinki ( n = 3), Vilnius ( n = 15), Chicago ( n = 4), London ( n = 3), respectively. The size of the population is a statistically significant factor in urban soil contamination by high-molecular-mass PAHs. |
