LAUSR

Abstract Selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene (low molecular weight) and fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene (high molecular weight) were analysed in urban soil samples. Benzo[a]pyrene is considered as an environmental toxicity indicator. The samples were collected from different locations of megacity Delhi during pre- and post-winter seasons. Qualitative and quantitative determination of PAHs in soil samples was performed using high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (HPLC-UV). The sum of selected PAHs ( ∑ 7 PAHs) in soils of polluted sites ranged from 956 μ g kg − 1 to 2348 μ g kg−1 (average 1714 μ g kg−1) in pre-winter season and 1230 μ g kg−1 to 2714 μ g kg−1 (average 1909 μ g kg−1) in post-winter season. The PAHs content in the post-winter samples was higher than the pre-winter samples. Organic carbon content does not show significant correlation with ∑ 7 PAHs. Sites with high potential environmental risk were identified using hierarchical cluster analysis.