Data relating to spatial distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in terrestrial soils of Pakistan and King George Island, Antarctica

Over the past few decades, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been analysed in various environmental compartments, however, only limited information is available associated with their terrestrial concentrations in Pakistan and Antarctica. All terrestrial soils from Pakistan (n = 120) were collected from 14th to 2nd April 2017 at Islamabad (n = 30), Abbotabad (n = 10), Taxilla (n = 5), and other places from north to south (n = 75). All Antarctic terrestrial soils (n = 11) were collected from 1st to 25th February 2018 in the southwestern part of King George Island. It is crucial to underline that all samples were both qualitatively and quantitatively identified by using a Shimadzu GCMS-QP2010 Ultra system coupled with a high-speed performance system with ASSP function (i.e., achieving maximum scan speed of 20,000 u sec−1) and having ultra-fast data acquisition speed for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC × GC). Analytical results implicate the influences of vehicle exhausts as a major contributor of PAHs in terrestrial soils of Pakistan. It seems rationale to conclude that 3-ring PAHs display the majority of PAH congeners in terrestrial soils of King George Island.


a b s t r a c t
Over the past few decades, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been analysed in various environmental compartments, however, only limited information is available associated with their terrestrial concentrations in Pakistan and Antarctica. All terrestrial soils from Pakistan (n ¼ 120) were collected from 14th to 2nd April 2017 at Islamabad (n ¼ 30), Abbotabad (n ¼ 10), Taxilla (n ¼ 5), and other places from north to south (n ¼ 75). All Antarctic terrestrial soils (n ¼ 11) were collected from 1st to 25th February 2018 in the southwestern part of King George Island. It is crucial to underline that all samples were both qualitatively Value of the data PAHs with low biodegradability and high persistency in environment, which is acknowledged as priority pollutants by US EPA as a consequence of its carcinogenic and mutagenic impacts therefore applying the suitable policy is the requirement to control PAHs and reducing of its concern. Data can be used as to facilitate policy and decision making process in order to control and decreasing the level of PAH contamination present in the terrestrial soils of Pakistan and King George Island, Antarctica.
Since long range atmospheric transportation is responsible for POPs contamination of pristine and sensitive environments, a long term monitoring of PAH congeners is therefore essentially crucial for conducting environmental risk assessment at King George Island, Antarctica. Data exhibited here may serve as benchmarks for other scientific communities focusing in the field of ecological toxicology to evaluate human expose to PAHs via dietary, inhalation, and dermal contact in Pakistan and King George Island, Antarctica.
The present data offers detailed information on molecular fingerprints of soil PAHs as obtained through GC/MS-MS. Further investigations for source identifications can be conducted by using diagnostic binary ratios of PAHs provided by this study. Data set of PAHs collected at King George Island, Antarctica can be used to conduct the source apportionment (e.g. principal component analysis (PCA), positive matrix factorization (PMF), and UNMIX) of PAHs in terrestrial soils of Pakistan and King George Island. Table 1 and Table 2 demonstrate sampling positions of terrestrial soil samples collected from  Pakistan and King George Island, respectively. Tables 3 and 4 and Tables 5 and 6 are presenting the concentrations of PAHs collected at Pakistan and King George Island, respectively.

Dataset area
All terrestrial soil samples were collected from different locations in Pakistan and King George Island (see Figs. 1 and 2).

Sample collection and analytical procedures
In this study, about 0.3 kg of terrestrial soil samples from an area of 1 m 2 at each sampling site was obtained by applying a shovel, which was stored in clean aluminium foil, situated in a glass bottle, and stored at À20 C. After removing stones and shells, the samples were freeze-dried and sieved to <0.076 mm (200 mesh), and then stored at À20 C until analysis. Details of the standard methods used for the soil sampling protocol can be found in previous publications [3e5]. Chemical analysis of PAH congeners are conducted in 2018 and described in Fig. 1. All details of GC-MS analysis are clearly explained in a previous study [7]. The fractionation/cleanup process followed the method reported by Gogou et al. (1996) [6]. After the extraction, the DCM solvent was concentrated to dryness by a combination of rotary evaporation and blowing under a gentle nitrogen stream. The concentrated extract is then diluted in 10 ml of n-hexane before application to the top of a disposable silica gel column. The extract was then fractionated into individual compound classes by flash chromatography on silica gel as follows: The concentrate was applied to the top of a 30 Â 0.7 cm diameter column, containing 1.5 g of silica gel (activated at 150 C for 3 h). Nitrogen pressure was used to in order to obtain a flow of 1.4 ml min À1 at the bottom of the column. The following solvents were used to elute the different compound classes: (1) 15 ml n-hexane (fraction 1, light molecular weight PAHs); (2) 15 ml toluene-n-hexane (5.6:9.4) (fraction 2, middle and heavy molecular weight PAHs). All solvents were of HPLC grade,  [d 12 -perylene (d 12 -Per) and d 10 -fluorene (d 10 -Fl)] were purchased from Chiron AS (Stiklestadveine 1, N-7041 Trondheim, Norway).