Potential Risk Assessment of Selected Polycyclic AromaticHydrocarbons in Vegetables Grown in Polluted andNon-polluted Areas of Sindh, Pakistan

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in vegetables grown in Sindh,Pakistan. The vegetables were collected from both local markets and industrial areas wherevegetation was carried out. All three types of vegetables, root vegetables, leafy vegetables andfruit vegetables were selected for analysis. The PAHs were extracted bySoxhletextractionmethod and analysed by gas chromatography. The results showed that average concentration ofPAHs in vegetables was ranged from 1.62±0.01μg/kg to 144.52±2.51μg/kg. From seven PAHsanalyzed, the fluorene was found to be present in almost all vegetable samples and was highest inbitter guard that is 144.52±2.51μg/kg. Like fluorene, naphthalene and anthracene were alsopresent in all the vegetables but their concentration was not very high (6.89±0.03μg/kg fornaphthalene and2.18±0.01for anthracene). Higher concentration of PAHs was observed insamples collected from industrial areas due to the fact that industrial smoke could easily beabsorbed by the vegetables grown in those areas.