{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T13:04:15Z","timestamp":1791896655803,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,26]],"date-time":"2020-05-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1590451200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004281","name":"Narodowe Centrum Nauki","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UMO-2018\/29\/N\/ST10\/01320"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UMO-2018\/29\/N\/ST10\/01320"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004281","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004569","name":"Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wy\u017cszego","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Program statutowy Nr 3.17 oraz 4.17"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Program statutowy Nr 3.17 oraz 4.17"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004569","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exhibit persistence in soils, and most of them are potentially mutagenic\/carcinogenic and teratogenic for human beings but also influence the growth and development of soil organisms. The PAHs emitted into the atmosphere are ultimately deposited (by dry or wet deposition processes) onto the soil surface where they tend to accumulate. Soil organic matter (SOM) plays an important role in the fate and transformation processes of PAHs, affecting their mobility, availability, and persistence. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the influence of SOM fractional diversification (fulvic acids\u2014FA, humic acids\u2014HA, and humins\u2014HN) on PAH availability and persistence in soils. Twenty soil samples (n = 20) were collected from upper horizons (0\u201330 cm) of agricultural soils exposed to anthropogenic emissions from industrial and domestic sources. The assessment of PAH concentrations included the determination of medium-molecular-weight compounds from the US EPA list: fluoranthene\u2014FLA, pyrene\u2014PYR, benz(a)anthracene\u2014BaA, and chrysene\u2014CHR. The assessment was conducted using the GC-MS\/MS technique. Three operationally defined fractions were investigated: total extractable PAHs (TE-PAHs) fraction, available\/bioavailable PAHs (PB-PAHs) fraction, and nonavailable\/residual PAHs (RE-PAHs) fraction, which was calculated as the difference between total and available PAHs. TE-PAHs were analyzed by dichloromethane extraction, while PB-PAHs were analyzed with a hydrophobic \u03b2-cyclodextrin solution. SOM was characterized by total organic carbon content (Turin method) and organic carbon of humic substances including FA, HA, HN (IHSS method). Concentrations of PAHs differed between soils from 193.5 to 3169.5 \u00b5g kg\u22121, 4.3 to 226.4 \u00b5g kg\u22121, and 148.6 to 3164.7 \u00b5g kg\u22121 for \u22114 TE-PAHs, \u22114 PB-PAHs, and \u22114 RE-PAHs, respectively. The \u22114 PB-PAHs fraction did not exceed 30% of \u22114 TE-PAHs. FLA was the most strongly bound in soil (highest content of RE-FLA), whereas PYR was the most available (highest content of PB-PYR). The soils were characterized by diversified total organic carbon (TOC) concentration (8.0\u2013130.0 g kg\u22121) and individual SOM fractions (FA = 0.4\u20137.5 g kg\u22121, HA = 0.6\u201313.0 g kg\u22121, HN = 0.9\u2013122.9 g kg\u22121). FA and HA as the labile fraction of SOM with short turnover time strongly positively influenced the potential \u22114 PAH availability (r = 0.56 and r = 0.52 for FA and HA, respectively). HN, which constitutes a stable fraction of organic matter with high hydrophobicity and poor degradability, was strongly correlated with \u22114 RE-PAHs (r = 0.75), affecting their persistence in soil.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules25112470","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,29]],"date-time":"2020-05-29T02:16:27Z","timestamp":1590718587000},"page":"2470","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":82,"title":["The Impact of Organic Matter on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Availability and Persistence in Soils"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9253-2383","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aleksandra","family":"Ukalska-Jaruga","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Soil Science Erosion and Land Protection, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation\u2014State Research Institute, Czartoryskich 8, 24-100 Pu\u0142awy, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bo\u017cena","family":"Smreczak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Soil Science Erosion and Land Protection, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation\u2014State Research Institute, Czartoryskich 8, 24-100 Pu\u0142awy, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1284","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chemosphere.2008.07.009","article-title":"Monitoring of the total content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in arable soils in Poland","volume":"73","author":"Smreczak","year":"2008","journal-title":"Chemosphere"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3746","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2009.01.010","article-title":"Concentrations, sources, and spatial distribution of individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in agricultural soils in the Eastern part of the EU: Poland as a case study","volume":"407","author":"Smreczak","year":"2009","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1007\/s10661-011-1943-8","article-title":"Sources of potentially toxic elements and organic pollutants in an urban area subjected to an industrial impact","volume":"184","author":"Cachada","year":"2012","journal-title":"Environ. Monit. Assess."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1080\/10406638.2013.781042","article-title":"Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Environment: Environmental Fate and Transformation","volume":"33","author":"Manzetti","year":"2013","journal-title":"Polycycl. Aromat. Comp."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10955","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356-016-6610-8","article-title":"The impact of selected soil organic matter fractions on the PAH accumulation in the agricultural soils from areas of different anthropopressure","volume":"24","author":"Smreczak","year":"2017","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"442","article-title":"Health and environment al effects of persistent organic pollutants","volume":"263","author":"Alharbi","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Mol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"196","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chemosphere.2017.10.013","article-title":"Availability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to earthworms in urban soils and its implications for risk assessment","volume":"191","author":"Cachada","year":"2018","journal-title":"Chemosphere"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ukalska-Jaruga, A., Lewi\u0144ska, K., Mammadov, E., Karczewska, A., Smreczak, B., and Medy\u0144ska-Juraszek, A. (2020). Residues of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Agricultural Soils Adjacent to Historical Sources of Their Storage and Distribution\u2014The Case Study of Azerbaijan. Molecules, 25.","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules25081815"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2124","DOI":"10.1021\/es102468z","article-title":"Sorption mechanisms of phenanthrene, lindane, and atrazine with various humic acid fractions from a single soil sample","volume":"45","author":"Wang","year":"2011","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Smreczak, B. (2018). Bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils. Habilitation dissertation. IUNG-PIB Monographs and Scientific Dissertations 56, IUNG-PIB."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"272","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chemosphere.2015.12.010","article-title":"Persistence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in biochar-amended soil","volume":"146","author":"Oleszczuk","year":"2016","journal-title":"Chemosphere"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11058","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356-016-6196-1","article-title":"Effect of activated carbon and biochars on the bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in different industrially contaminated soils","volume":"23","author":"Hiber","year":"2016","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"56","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biortech.2018.10.087","article-title":"Effect of hydroxypropyl-\u03b2-cyclodextrin on the cometabolism of phenol and phenanthrene by a novel Chryseobacterium sp.","volume":"273","author":"Xiao","year":"2019","journal-title":"Bioresour. Technol."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1239","DOI":"10.1897\/05-458R.1","article-title":"Two complementary sides of bioavailability: Accessibility and chemical activity of organic contaminants in sediments and soils","volume":"25","author":"Reichenberg","year":"2006","journal-title":"Environ. Toxicol. Chem."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"809","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1351-0754.2003.0564.x","article-title":"Bioavailability of hydrophobic organic contaminants in soils: Fundamental concepts and techniques for analysis","volume":"54","author":"Semple","year":"2003","journal-title":"Eur. J. Soil Sci."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"687","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2013.03.033","article-title":"Chemical measures of bioavailability\/bioaccessibility of PAHs in soil: Fundamentals to application","volume":"261","author":"Riding","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"494","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2005.08.063","article-title":"Linking organic pollutant (bio)availability with geosorbent properties and biomimetic methodology: A review of geosorbent characterization and (bio)availability prediction","volume":"141","author":"Ehlers","year":"2006","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2170","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2010.02.019","article-title":"Impact of soil organic matter on the distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils","volume":"158","author":"Yang","year":"2010","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1241","DOI":"10.1007\/s11368-012-0490-4","article-title":"Dynamic interactions of natural organic matter and organic compounds","volume":"12","author":"Pignatello","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Soil Sediments"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"177","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2012.07.003","article-title":"Relationships between aging of PAHs and soil properties","volume":"170","author":"Luo","year":"2012","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"990","DOI":"10.1111\/gcbb.12363","article-title":"Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds in biochar and biochar-amended soil: A review","volume":"9","author":"Dutta","year":"2017","journal-title":"GCB Bioenergy"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"882","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2017.07.038","article-title":"Association of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with humic acid and humin fractions in a peat soil and implications for their long-term retention","volume":"230","author":"Chen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2675","DOI":"10.1007\/s11368-018-1917-3","article-title":"Studying of the interaction between peat humic acids and metazachlor using spectroscopy methods","volume":"18","author":"Bejger","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Soils Sediments"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1890","DOI":"10.1007\/s11368-018-2214-x","article-title":"Soil organic matter composition as a factor affecting the accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons","volume":"19","author":"Smreczak","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Soils Sediments"},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Stevenson, F.J. (1982). Humus Chemistry, Genesis, Compositions, Reactions, Wiley."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"De Boodt, M.F., Hayes, M.R., and Herbillon, A. (1990). Genesis, Isolation, Composition and Structures of Soil Humic Substances. Soil Colloids and Their Associations in Aggregates, Springer Science and Business Media."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Sparks, D.L. (1996). Organic matter characterization. Methods of Soil Analysis Part 3\u2014Chemical Methods. Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.2134\/jeq2019.02.0041","article-title":"Environmental and Agricultural Relevance of Humic Fractions Extracted by Alkali from Soils and Natural Waters","volume":"48","author":"Olk","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Environ. Qual."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"145","DOI":"10.1002\/jpln.200521785","article-title":"Soil organic matter beyond molecular structure part I: Macromolecular and supramolecular characteristics","volume":"169","author":"Schaumann","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.1002\/jpln.200521791","article-title":"Soil organic matter beyond molecular structure part II: Amorphous nature and physical aging","volume":"169","author":"Schaumann","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.1007\/s10847-006-9094-1","article-title":"Use of cyclodextrins as an environmentally friendly extracting agent in organic aged-contaminated soil remediation","volume":"56","author":"Viglianti","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Incl. Phenom. Macrocycl."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"639","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2013.10.032","article-title":"Desorption kinetics of PAHs from aged industrial soils for availability assessment","volume":"470\u2013471","author":"Barnier","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3207","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2009.05.031","article-title":"Soil burdens of persistent organic pollutants\u2014Their levels, fate and risk. Part, I. Variation of concentration ranges according to different soil uses and locations","volume":"157","author":"Holoubek","year":"2009","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"809","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2008.05.027","article-title":"Relationships between organic matter, black carbon and persistent organic pollutants in European background soils: Implications for sources and environmental fate","volume":"156","author":"Nam","year":"2008","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"375","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2015.05.025","article-title":"Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils from urban to rural areas in Nanjing: Concentration, source, spatial distribution, and potential human health risk","volume":"527","author":"Wang","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"Rozporz\u0105dzenie, M.S. (2020, January 28). JoL 2016 Item 1395. Regulation of Minister of Environmental Protection from 1th September, 2016 on Assessment of Soil Surface Pollution, Available online: http:\/\/prawo.sejm.gov.pl\/isap.nsf\/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20160001395."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"223","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2012.09.013","article-title":"Methods to assess bioavailability of hydrophobic organic contaminants: Principles, operations, and limitations","volume":"172","author":"Cui","year":"2013","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.1016\/S0269-7491(99)00206-7","article-title":"Bioavailability of persistent organic pollutants in soils and sediments\u2014A perspective on mechanisms, consequences and assessment","volume":"108","author":"Reid","year":"2000","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.1007\/s10532-012-9593-2","article-title":"Tenax TA extraction to understand the rate-limiting factors in methyl-\u03b2-cyclodextrin-enhanced bioremediation of PAH-contaminated soil","volume":"24","author":"Sun","year":"2013","journal-title":"Biodegradation"},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"463","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2013.11.038","article-title":"The prediction of PAHs bioavailability in soils using chemical methods: State of the art and future challenges","volume":"472","author":"Cachada","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"507","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356-013-1930-4","article-title":"Decontamination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nonylphenol from sewage sludge using hydroxypropyl-\u03b2-cyclodextrin and evaluation of the toxicity of leachates","volume":"21","author":"Lacorte","year":"2014","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10255","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.est.5b02412","article-title":"From bioavailability science to regulation of organic chemicals","volume":"49","author":"Harmsen","year":"2015","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"415","DOI":"10.1007\/s10847-013-0313-2","article-title":"Solubility enhancement and QSPR correlations for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons complexation with \u03b1, \u03b2, and \u03b3 cyclodextrins","volume":"78","author":"Blanford","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Incl. Phenom. Macrocycl. Chem."},{"key":"ref_44","unstructured":"Siebielec, G., Smreczak, B., Klimkowicz-Pawlas, A., Kowalik, M., Kaczy\u0144ski, R., Koza, P., Ukalska-Jaruga, A., \u0141ysiak, M., W\u00f3jtowicz, U., and Por\u0119ba, L. (2020, January 28). Report for the III Stage of the Monitoring of the Chemical Properties of Arable Soils in Poland in Years 2015\u20132017, Available online: http:\/\/www.gios.gov.pl\/images\/dokumenty\/pms\/monitoring_jakosci_gleb\/Raport_MChG_etap3.pdf."},{"key":"ref_45","unstructured":"Tan, K. (2014). Humic Matter in Soil and Environment. Principles and Controversies, CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group. [2nd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6881","DOI":"10.1021\/es050191b","article-title":"Extensive sorption of organic compounds to black carbon, coal, and kerogen in sediments and soils: Mechanisms and consequences for distribution, bioaccumulation, and biodegradation","volume":"39","author":"Cornelissen","year":"2005","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_47","unstructured":"(2018). ISO 16751:2018 Soil Quality\u2014Environmental Availability of Non-Polar Organic Compounds\u2014Determination of the Potentially Bioavailable Fraction and the Non-Bioavailable Fraction Using a Strong Adsorbent or Complexing Agent, ISO. Available online: https:\/\/library.wur.nl\/WebQuery\/wurpubs\/544238."}],"container-title":["Molecules"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1420-3049\/25\/11\/2470\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T09:32:41Z","timestamp":1760175161000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1420-3049\/25\/11\/2470"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,26]]},"references-count":47,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,6]]}},"alternative-id":["molecules25112470"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/molecules25112470","relation":{},"ISSN":["1420-3049"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1420-3049","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,26]]}}}