The retrospective study of the carcinogenic hydrocarbon benz[a]pyrene in the biosphere.
The major aim of this study was to determine taking, as an example, the carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon benz[a]pyrene (BaP), the present biologically active compounds in the early historical and geological epochs with the following assessment of the degree of danger of such compounds in the modern times. In the first section of work, study results of soil samples in the areas of eternal frost confirmed the presence of BaP in the frozen layers of soil aged 10 years, 100 years, 3000--4000 and 10,000 years of age. In the second part of the work, results are furnished on the BaP content in the ice of modern glaciers and their moraines, located in Kamchatka. BaP was found in 11 samples in the concentration of 0.001--0.003 microgram/l. These data represent the first results in the retrospective study of carcinogenic substances in the biosphere.