Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils of Vasilievsky Island (St. Petersburg)

The composition and accumulation patterns of priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils of Vasilievsky Island in Saint Petersburg were studied. Concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene were found to exceed maximum permissible concentrations in all the samples, and the maximum recorded concentration exceeded the MPC by 50 times. Concentrations of other PAHs also exceeded the background values. The main soil pollutants were found to be fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, and benzo[g, h, i] perylene, the part of which in the total content of PAHs was 65-80%.