Profile, Sources, Ecological and Health Risk Assessment of PAHs in Agricultural Soil in a Pljevlja Municipality

The concentrations, profile, source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in agricultural soil samples ( n = 35) in Pljevlja municipality (Montenegro), potential ecological and health risk were evaluated in this study. This area is an important industrial and agrarian region in the northern area of Montenegro and thus providing an insight regarding the content of PAHs in agricultural soil in this area is of great importance from the standpoint of the safety of agricultural products grown on this land and the health of inhabitants which may be exposed to the potentially contaminated agricultural soil. Mean concentrations of ΣPAHs and Σ7 carc PAHs in soil were calculated to be 271.49 μg⋅kg −1 and 99.73 μg⋅kg − , respectively. Based on the mean concentrations of ΣPAHs, soil was classified as uncontaminated according to Montenegrin legislation. PAHs diagnostic ratios and principal component analysis (PCA) indicated coal/wood combustion and traffic emissions as the main PAHs sources in soil. Ecological risk of the ΣPAHs based on the risk quotient (RQ) was characterised as low. Three-ring PAHs present the highest risk with a significant 77.35% ecological risk. The carcinogenic potential of PAHs based on the Benzo(a)pyrene potency equivalent (BaP eq ) was calculated to be 21.7 μg/kg −1 and carcinogenic PAHs were major contributors. Dibenz[a,h]anthracene (39.22%) and benzo[a]pyrene (25.16%) highly contributes to total BaP eq . Health risk accessed through the total incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) of exposure to PAHs from Pljevlja agricultural soil for children and adults was 1.16⋅10 –5 and 1.59⋅10 –5 , respectively. It is characterised as a low health risk, and the main risk contributor were found to be dermal contact followed by ingestion while the inhalation route was insignificant. Graphical abstract