Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils and lower-layer plants of the southern shrub tundra under technogenic conditions

• Published in: Eurasian soil science 2014-06, Vol.47 (6), p.562-572
• Main Authors: Yakovleva, E. V, Gabov, D. N, Beznosikov, V. A, Kondratenok, B. M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; emissions; fluorine; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; High performance liquid chromatography; hyperaccumulators; Liquid chromatography; Naphthalene; organic horizons; Plant species; Pleurozium schreberi; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Polytrichum; shrubs; Soil Chemistry; Soil contamination; Soil horizons; Soils; taiga; Taiga & tundra; Tundra; Tundra ecology; Vegetation
• ISSN: 1064-2293; 1556-195X
• DOI: 10.1134/S1064229314060106

In soils and plants of the southern shrub tundra, 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been detected by high-performance liquid chromatography. Polyarenes in emissions, soil organic horizons, and plants mainly include low-molecular-weight PAHs: naphthalene, fluorine, and pyrene. The contents of the total PAHs in soils and plants exceed the background levels by 3–5 times. The distribution of polyarenes among the organs of the studied plants is nonuniform and depends on the plant species and technogenic load on the area. The studied plants include both hyperaccumulators of polyarenes (Pleurozium schreberi) and indicators of PAHs in the soil (Polytrichum commune). Pleurozium schreberi is the most abundant species in the areas under study, and it accumulates the largest mass fraction of PAHs. The differences in the accumulation of PAHs by the plants of the tundra and taiga zones have been revealed.