Abstract
A simple method of determining the degree of PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) pollution was developed. The concentration of each PAH was determined by decomposing the fluorescence spectrum into individual PAH spectra. There was a good relationship of the fluorescence method with GC/MS results although most results overestimated PAH concentrations. This method was successfully applied to various kinds of PAH-polluted soils and sediments. The major advantage of this method is that sophisticated tools used to separate PAHs (GC or HPLC) are not required. From a viewpoint of environmental management, this method is extremely useful since these tools are not yet common used today and its maintenance and operational cost is low. Conducting the initial screening using this technique leads to the efficient analysis of ubiquitous PAHs in polluted environments.
