Spatial characteristics and major sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from soil and respirable particulate matter in a mega-city, China.

As one of China's great metropolises, Taiyuan is generally recognized to be one of the most polluted cities from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the world. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine a total of 16 PAH concentrations in various environmental media in Taiyuan. The total PAHs concentration ranged from 1.0 to 26 microg g(-1) in soil, 1.2 x 10(2) to 1.4 x 10(3) ng m(-3) in PM 2.5 and 76 to 1.1 x 10(3) ng m(-3) in PM 10, respectively. Furthermore, the primary source of PAHs was coal combustion, but the samples were also affected to varying degrees by traffic emissions.