title: Distribution and risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in suburban and rural soils of Beijing with various land uses.
abstract: We investigated the sources, distribution, and health risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils of peri-urban Beijing. The mean concentrations of total 16 PAHs in suburban and rural soils of Beijing were 321.8 ± 408.2 and 219.2 ± 233.5 ng/g, respectively. The PAH concentrations decreased along the urban-suburban-rural gradient and varied with land use categories. The industrial areas had the highest soil PAH concentrations followed by the living areas, roadsides, green areas, and agricultural areas. The major sources of PAHs in these soils were coal and biomass combustion. Traffic emission was not the dominant source of PAHs in peri-urban Beijing. At a few sites, high soil PAH contents were caused by point sources such as iron and steel plants and a wood preservative factory. The incremental lifetime cancer risks (ILCRs) of adults and children exposed to PAHs in the soils were acceptable. However, cautions should be paid to the abandoned industrial sites, which might be converted to residential area during the urbanization process.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Meie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, People's Republic of China. wpchen@rcees.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Weiping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000068476:Beijing; D018533:Biomass; D002648:Child; D003031:Coal; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D012306:Risk; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014507:Urbanization
chemical_list: D003031:Coal; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Health risk assessment; ILCRs; Land use change; PAHs; Suburban; Urbanization