The Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Paddy Seeds and the Correlation with the Environmental Media

Paddy seeds and environment samples such as soil, air and atmospheric particulates were collected and analyzed during the rice maturity and harvest periods (September to October, 2008) from Nanchang Suburb of Jiangxi Province. The results showed that the average concentration of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (∑PAHs) was (74.8±13.6) ng/g in paddy seeds, (203.7±14.3) ng/g in paddy soils, 68.25 ng/m³ in air and dominated by 3 and 4 ring of PAHs, 42.28 ng/m³ in atmospheric particulates and dominated by 4, 5 and 6 ring of PAHs, which indicated that PAHs in various media in this region were at a middle-lower content level compared with in similar media from other regions. The results from correlation analysis of the bio-concentration factors (BCF) of PAHs in paddy seeds and in each environmental medium with the PAHs partition coefficients K_OC and K_OA indicated that there was no obvious correlation of PAHs distribution in paddy seeds with that in soils and atmospheric particulates, but a clear positive correlation between PAHs in gas phase and in paddy seeds was observed. The results seem to prove that organic pollutants in gas phase are the primary contribution to the pollutant in plant seeds as the previous research conclusions.