Occurence of PAHs in Various Elements of Environment in Zabrze (Upper Silesia, Poland)

The Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollution state of the chosen town (Zabrze) of Upper Silesia, the most industrialised region in Poland, was presented. Zabrze is a town of medium size, having population twenty times bigger than a medium town polulation in Poland. In this study we determined the qualitative and quantitative composition of PAHs fraction separated from the following elements of environment: suspended dust, drinking water, soil and sewage sludge. The following analytical techniques were used: Soxhlet Extraction, Solid Phase Extraction, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Capillary Gas Chromatography and High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The results confirmed the significant state of examined region pollution. They stated the exceed of contents B(a)P in suspended dust. The soils in that place were heavily polluted with PAHs, about 4000 µg · kg-1 for the sum of PAHs. The total contents of PAHs in sewage sludge of Zabrze did not exceed the analogous contents published for West European sewage sludge treatment plants and the level of determined PAHs in drinking water did not show any claims.