Manuscript revised without track changes Click here to download Manuscript Manuscript_revised.docx Click here to view linked References 1 Source patterns and contamination level of Polycyclic Aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 2 urban and rural areas of Southern Italian soils 3 Matar Thiombane1*, Marcello Di Bonito2, Stefano Albanese1, Annamaria Lima1, Daniela Zuzolo3, 4 Roberto Rolandi1, Shihua Qi4, Benedetto De Vivo5 5 1. Department of Earth, Environment and Resources Sciences (DiSTAR), University of Naples “Federico II”, 6 Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant' Angelo, Via Cintia snc, 80126 Naples, Italy. 7 2. School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Brackenhurst Campus Southwell NG25 0QF Nottingham 8 Trent University, Unites Kingdom. 9 3. Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, via dei Mulini 59/A, 82100 Benevento, Italy. 10 4. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, 430074 11 Wuhan, People’s Republic of China. 12 5. Pegaso University, Piazza Trieste e Trento 48, 80132 Naples & Benecon Scarl, Dip. Ambiente e Territorio, Via 13 S. Maria di Costantinopoli 104, 80138 Naples, Italy 14 * Corresponding author: Matar Thiombane,
[email protected] 15 16 Abstract 17 Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). They 18 have been identified as a type of carcinogenic substance and are relatively widespread in environment 19 media such as air, water and soils, constituting a significant hazard for human health. In many parts of 20 the world, PAHs are still found in high concentrations despite improved legislation and monitoring, and it 21 is therefore vital defining their profiles, and assessing their potential sources.