Organic Contaminants in Agricultural Soils in Central and East European Countries as Compared to West European Countries; Example of PAHs

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) - know for their strong mutagenic, carcinogenic and toxic properties - belong to the group of persistent organic compounds (POPs) i.e. organic contaminants which are relatively resistant to biodegradation, can remain in the environment for long periods and have the potential to cause adverse environmental effects. There are thousands of PAH compounds in the environment but in practise PAHs analysis is restricted to the determination of 6 to 16 compounds. Individual PAHs differ substantially in their physical and chemical properties. Generally, the high molecular weight compounds (> 3 aromatic rings) are less water soluble, less volatile and more lipophilic than lower molecular weight ones [1,19,32]. The best know model compound from this group is the highly carcinogenic benzo/a/piren (BaP). PAHs are listed by the United States Environmental Pollution Agency and the European Commission as priority pollutants.