Determination in soils of PAH produced by combustion of biomass under different conditions

4 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, 25 references.-- Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, C.S.I.C., Apartado 1052, E-41080 Sevilla, SpainThe nature and concentrations in soils of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) generated by combustion of pine biomass under different conditions was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after their enrichment by a simple clean-up procedure. The patterns of pyrogenic PAH, presumably generated by thermal aromatization of biogenic precursors, vary for each sample. When burned at moderate temperature for a long period of time the most abundant homologues generated were alkylated derivatives of naphthalene, whereas phenanthrene alkyl derivatives were predominant after a forest wildfire, where higher temperatures are reached in less time. More condensed PAH included in well-known priority pollutant lists were detected only in minor amounts. No long persistence of PAH was observed in some soil samples analysed.Peer reviewe