In this paper, 34 soil samples was collected in Beihu Lake area in Wuhan, Hubei province for determination of 16 types of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in order to study the residues of persistent organic pollutants in soil of Beihu area, GC-MS, as well as a detection method called EPA8080A, was used to detect these PAHs, including Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene, Anthracene, Fluoranthene, Pyrene, Benzo(a)anthracene, Chrysene, Benzo(b)fluoranthene, Benzo(k)fluoranthene, Benzo(a)pyrene, Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, Dibenzo(a,h)anthracene and Benzo(g,hi)perylene. The result showed that PAHs could be found in all the samples, and the average residue of PAHs was 4114.2 ng/g. The coefficient of variation was 0.98, which indicated a greater dispersion. The pollution was more serious in the specified district than other domestic and foreign area. The ratio of specific PAHs demonstrated that they mainly came from combustion process and then fall to the surface by means of atmospheric deposition, thus, the departments concerned should strengthen or improve the use of fuel.
