Review on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Load in Indian Urban Environment

The present review study manifests the sampling techniques, analytical tools and the status of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in different environmental samples of Indian urban cities. Indeed, petrogenic, pyrogenic and biogenic sources of PAHs grounds to carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and genotoxic effects on human environment. Most of the studies on PAHs focussed on the ambient air samples and noticed that carcinogenic Benzo[a] Pyrene is dominant and severe health risk posturing 4-5 ring high molecular weight PAHs. The High-volume sampler for minimum 8hrs espoused as best sampling method over passive bio samplers, glass fibre filters, particulate samplers etc. The microwave assisted Soxhlet extraction with n-hexane solvent has gained a lot of attention due to its pragmatism in sample handling than Soxhlet and ultrasonic. The high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography with a mass spectrophotometer adopted as best analytical tools for high accuracy. The PAHs concentration of among 11 Indian cities of the review study has significantly emphasized the inter and intra spatial variations. Moreover, the amount of concentration of PAHs differs in air, water and soil. Also, the comparative study revealed that Delhi and Amravati recorded maximum and minimum concentrations of PAHs respectively.