title: A Review on the Abundance, Distribution and Eco-Biological Risks of PAHs in the Key Environmental Matrices of South Asia.
abstract: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are consistently posing high risks to human/biota in developing countries of South Asia where domestic areas are exposed to biomass burning and commercial/industrial activities. This review article summarized the available data on PAHs occurrence, distribution, potential sources and their possible risks in the key environmental matrices (i.e., Air, Soil/Sediments, Water) from South Asian Region (SAR). Available literature reviewed suggested that PAHs concentration levels were strongly influenced by the monsoonal rainfall system in the region and it has been supported by many studies that higher concentrations were measured during the winter season as compared to summer. Biomass burning (household and brick kilns activities), open burning of solid wastes and industrial and vehicular emissions were categorized as major sources of PAHs in the region. Regional comparison revealed that the contamination levels of PAHs in the water bodies and soil/sediments in SAR remained higher relatively to the reports from other regions of the world. Our findings highlight that there is still a general lack of reliable data, inventories and research studies addressing PAHs related issues in the context of environmental and human health in SAR. There is therefore a critical need to improve the current knowledge base, which should build upon the research experience from other regions which have experienced similar situations in the past. Further research into these issues in South Asia is considered vital to help inform future policies/control strategies as already successfully implemented in other countries.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Naima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hamid
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China. jabirshah100@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Jabir Hussain
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Atif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kamal
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Faiqa
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Sundas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanveer
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Usman
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence, Via della Lastruccia, 3, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy.|CNR, Istituto per la Dinamica dei Processi Ambientali, Via Dorsoduro 2137, 30123, Venezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cincinelli
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) - FRAM High North Research Centre on Climate and the Environment, Hjalmar Johansens gt. 14 NO, 9296, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katsoyiannis
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
authors.forename: Ishwar Chandra
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan. r_n_malik2000@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Riffat Naseem
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
authors.forename: Gan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D058448:Biota; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Biomass burning; Distribution; Occurrence; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Risk assessment; South Asia; Vehicular emissions