In the current study, 16 congeners of PAHs were measured in 32 surface sediment samples to determine their pollution status in the Jiangsu coastal zone, East China. The total concentrations of the 16 PAHs ranged from 2.2 to 46.6 ng g-1 with an average of 8.36 ng g-1 in surface sediments and were significantly lower than those of PAHs in other coastal areas of China. The spatial distribution of PAHs revealed an increasing trend from nearshore to offshore, controlled by the regional sedimentary dynamic environment. Diagnostic ratios and positive matrix factorization demonstrated that petroleum, industries, biomass and coal combustion, and marine and vehicular traffic sources contributed to 28.9%, 25.5%, 24.7%, and 20.9% of the total PAHs, respectively. Risk assessment suggested that the carcinogenic risks were <1 × 10-4 for all age groups in the area, indicating that long-term seafood consumption does not pose a significant cancer risk in this area.
Keywords: Jiangsu coastal zone; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Risk assessment; Source apportionment; Surface sediments.
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