The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of PAH contamination and the association of PAHs with inorganic substances in soils and sediments of New Orleans. Bonnet Carré Spillway (BCS) (n = 5) provides modern baseline data, while urban soil samples (CTY) (n = 27) and sediment samples from Bayou St. John (BSJ) (n = 11) provide experimental data for New Orleans. Soil samples were collected from the top 2.5 cm of the surface, air-dried, and sieved (2 mm). Sediments samples were collected with a Wildco-Ekman bottom dredge, air-dried and finely ground. Accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) was used to release PAHs from the samples and analysis was conducted with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Metals were extracted using a 5:1 ratio of 1 mol/L nitric acid (room temperature) for soil and sediment samples, shaken for 2 h, centrifuged (1000 x g for 15 min) and filtered. Metal analysis was done by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Mann-Whitney tests show PAH differences (P < 0.001). Ranking of total PAHs is, BSJ sediments (10.3 mg/kg) > CTY soils (3.7 mg/kg) > BCS alluvium (0.28 mg/kg). The sum of the metals are similar for BSJ sediments (698 mg/kg) and CTY soils (679 mg/kg) and significantly lower for BCS (189 mg/kg). Manganese of these samples is similar for each site. For paired samples, Pearson Product Moment Correlation tests reveal that many PAHs are strongly associated with each other at all locations. For BCS alluvium and BSJ sediments, total PAHs are not significantly associated with total metals. For CTY, most pairs of metals are significantly associated, and total soil PAHs are strongly associated with total soil metals (correlation 0.78, P = 4.9 x 10(-4)). The linear model, total soil PAH = 136.3 + 6.25 (total soil metals) forms the basis for a predicted PAH map of New Orleans. Previous empirical research demonstrates an association between soil lead and children's lead exposure. This study indicates that PAHs are part of the soil mixture of accumulated substances and by-products of industrial society that presents exposure potential in cities.