Long-term exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their nitrated (NPAHs) and oxygenated (OPAHs) derivatives can cause adverse health effects due to their carcinogenicity, mutagenicity and oxidative potential. The distribution of PAH derivatives in the terrestrial environment has hardly been studied, although several PAH derivatives are ubiquitous in air and long-lived in soil and water. We report the multi-annual variations in the concentrations of NPAHs, OPAHs and PAHs in soils sampled at a semi-urban (Mokrá, Czech Republic) and a regional background site (Košetice, Czech Republic) in central Europe. The concentrations of the Σ18NPAHs and the Σ11+2OPAHs and O-heterocycles were 0.31 ± 0.23 ng g-1 and 4.03 ± 3.03 ng g-1, respectively, in Košetice, while slightly higher concentrations of 0.54 ± 0.45 ng g-1 and 5.91 ± 0.45 ng g-1, respectively, were found in soil from Mokrá. Among the 5 NPAHs found in the soils, 1-nitropyrene and less so 6-nitrobenzo(a)pyrene were most abundant. The OPAHs were more evenly distributed. The ratios of the PAH derivatives to their parent PAHs in Košetice indicate that they were long-range transported to the background site. Our results show that several NPAHs and OPAHs are abundant in soil and that gas-particle partitioning is a major factor influencing the concentration of several semi-volatile NPAHs and OPAHs in the soils. Complete understanding of the long-term variations of NPAH and OPAH concentrations in soil is limited by the lack of kinetic data describing their formation and degradation.

• Klíčová slova
• Background, Nitrated PAHs, Polycyclic aromatic compounds, soil pollution, Soil exposure, Temporal variation,
• MeSH
• dusičnany MeSH
• látky znečišťující vzduch * analýza   MeSH
• monitorování životního prostředí metody   MeSH
• pastviny MeSH
• polycyklické aromatické uhlovodíky * analýza   MeSH
• půda MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• dusičnany MeSH
• látky znečišťující vzduch * MeSH
• polycyklické aromatické uhlovodíky * MeSH
• půda MeSH