Biologic risk and source diagnose of 16 PAHs from Haihe River Basin, China

Surface sediments of rivers can exhibit spatial and temporal variations in contaminant concentrations that may significantly affect risk evaluations. As to pollution control and remediation of watershed, large-scale and further background data on PAHs in China were required urgently. Spatial distribution and compositional characteristics of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments from Haihe River Basin were investigated. A method based on effects range (ER) was used to assess ecosystem risk of ΣPAHs (the total of 16 PAH) sensitively and accurately. The results indicated that ΣPAHs content levels ranged from 257 to 16901 μg·kg−1 dry weight. The lower rings predominated in the samples, and 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-ring PAHs accounted for 12%, 21%, 30%, 30%, and 7% respectively in total PAHs. The ratio of Fl / (Fl + Py) uniformly distributed in the interval 0.20–0.80, indicating that it may be affected by petroleum origin, oil combustion, biomass and coal combustion jointly. ΣPAHs in Cetian (S6), Dongwushi (S19), Handan (S20), Aixinzhuang (S21) and Tianjin (S37) exceeded effects range low (ERL), in which biologic effects were in a medium level with an adverse effect on biologic organisms. Thus, it is necessary to strengthen the PAHs monitoring and research of the Haihe River Basin.