Ethanol washing with distillation as a cleanup process of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon(PAH)-contaminated soil was investigated in this study. A multistage ethanol washing with distillation process was applied to three different types of soil, i.e., sandy soil, alluvial soil, and clay with the initial concentration of benzo(a)pyrene 10 mg/kg, benz(a)anthracene 250 mg/kg, and pyrene 100 mg/kg soil. Ethanol was selected as washing solvent because of its high PAH removal efficiency, low cost, and non-toxicity comparing to the other solvent such as isopropyl alcohol and sodium dodecyl sulfate. The satisfactory results (i.e. lower than benzo(a)pyrene 1 mg/kg, pyrene 10 mg/kg, benz(a)anthracene 25 mg/kg, which are the Canada or the Netherlands soil standard) for three types of soils were obtained by at most five-six times washing. It was suggested that organic content in soil decreased the removal efficiency by ethanol washing.

In order to elucidate the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentration and its origin in arctic area, four arctic brown algae (Laminaria saccharina, L. digita, Alaria esculenta, Desmarestia aculeata), one marine invertebrate (Echinoidea) and sediments were collected from Kongsfjorden in Spitsbergen from the late July to early August, 2003. In case of macroalgae, the young blade part above growth point and the old stipes and blades beneath growth point were separated and analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in an attempt to check the mechanism of uptake in macroalgae to accumulate PAH. There was no difference in PAH concentrations between sampling sites (Stations B and C), species, and blades beneath and above growth point. PAH concentrations in all samples collected in this study were relatively higher than those reported in other areas of arctic. Especially, station C, which is known as an unpolluted area, showed 10 times higher PAH concentration (8,765 ng/g) in sediment than station A (694 ng/g) around harbor. In addition high PAH concentration, station C had very higher proportion of methylated PAH to parent PAH in sediment than station A. Source analysis using PAH isomer pair ratios as indicators showed that Kongsfjorden area seemed to be relatively contaminated with PAH derived from direct petroleum input.