• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.219-228
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• 2001

Surface sediments (0- 5 cm), mussels (Mytilus coruscus and M. edulis) and oysters (Crassostrea gigas) were sampled at 20 stations in Korean coast during a period of February to July 2000. Samples were analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) content using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometer detector (GC/MSD). The sediment $\sum PAH$ concentration varied from 7 to 1,214 ng/g dry weight and the level of carcinogenic PAHs of six species ranged from 1 to 563 ng/g dry weight in surface sediments. In organisms, the levels of $\sum PAH$ were in the range of 63-876 ng/g dry weight and the concentrations of carcinogenic PAHs of six species were in the range of 4-582 ng/g dry weight. The highest PAH concentrations in sediments and organisms were in samples from Station 5 in Pohang coast and Station 8 in Jinhae coast, respectively. $\sum PAH$ concentrations in sediments and organisms collected from Korean coast were slightly low or comparable to those in other countries. The contribution of ring aromatic groups to sum of 16 PAHs in sediments and organisms showed a similar pattern for most stations. In sediments, the predominant contributions were four and five ring aromatics like fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene and benzo[a]pyrene. In the organisms, four ring aromatics like fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene and chrysene were predominant PAH species. Several molecular indices such as phenanthrene/anthracene, fluoranthene/pyrene and LMW/HMW ratio were used to identify the origin of PAH contamination in sediments. The results indicate that PAHs of Korean coast were mainly of pyro1ytic contaminants with slight petrogenic input. A high correlation within individual PAH compound in marine sediments was observed, while correlation in organisms showed a highly significant relationship for heavier molecular weight PAHs.