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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were quantified in 30 soil profiles from the Yangtze River Delta Region, in east China. Relative concentrations of PAH compounds with different benzene rings and ratios of fluoranthene to fluoranthene plus pyrene and benz(a)anthracene to benz(a)anthracene plus chrysene were used to identify the possible sources of soil PAHs. Total concentrations of 15 PAHs in topsoils ranged from 8. 6 to 3881μgkg−1 with an average of 397μgkg−1. Half of the soil samples were considered to be contaminated with PAHs (>200μgkg−1) and two sampling sites were heavily polluted by PAHs with concentrations >1000μgkg−1. Phenanthrene was found in soils below a depth of 100cm in half of the sampling sites, but the detectable ratio of benzo(a)pyrene decreased sharply from 100% in topsoil to 0 in the 4th horizon. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]