Distribution behavior of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in roadside soil at traffic intercepts within developing cities

A study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons pollution in roadside soil was conducted in developing city environment of northern India during autumn and winter season to ascertain the contamination levels and their distribution behavior in soil. The concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was determined at ten locations of Jalandhar city, Punjab in India at 1, 2 and 3 m distances from roadside in soil covering all the major traffic intercepts within city. The samples were extracted in acetone and dichloromethane (1:1) using soxhlet extraction. The extracts were then filtered on a silica gel micro column to remove impurities and elute was subjected to GC-FID. The total average concentration (city average) was found to be 4.04 μg/g and 16.38 μg/g during winter and autumn respectively. DiBenzo (ah) Anthracene and Benzo (a) Pyrene were the individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in highest concentration at all the intercepts ranging between 0.008 to 28.4 μg/g during winter and 0.01 to 252.55 μg/g during autumn. Average concentration of non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during winter and autumn was found to be 2.1 and 6.4 and 4.74 and 35.08 μg/g respectively. The average ratio of non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons was found to be 1:3 during winter, and 1:7.6 during autumn at most of the intercepts. Total carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons concentration was found quite high (80 %) in comparison to non-carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (20 %) at most of the intercepts.