DECOMPOSITION RATE OF ANTHRACENE, FLUORENE, PYRENE AND CHRYSENE IN LUVISOLS

The aim of the paper was to determine the stability and intensity of decomposition of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (anthracene, fluorene, pyrene, chrysene) in Luvisols. The study was carried out based on soil samples representative of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region, collected from areas exposed to and protected from direct contamination with PAHs. Soil samples were polluted with selected PAHs at the amount corresponding to 10 mg PAHs/kg. The PAHs-polluted soil samples were incubated for 10, 30, 60, 120, 180 and 360 days at the temperature of 20-25 o C and fixed moisture - 50 % of field water capacity. In this work High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was applied. It was found that majority of PAHs decomposed within first 30 days of the experiment. Decomposition of fluorene and anthracene was much faster than for pyrene and chrysene. The lowest rate of PAHs decomposition was noted for the samples of the soil with the highest content of organic carbon, carbon of the fractions of humic acids and humins, which clearly points to an essential role of organic matter in the PAHs sorption processes.