The original soil phenanthrene concentrations as well as
the final concentrations after phenanthrene addition and
incubation are listed in Table 1. A significant negative
correlation between the amounts of phenanthrene desorbed
and soil organic carbon (R = 0.83, P < 0.01) (Fig. 1), indicated
that organic carbon in the soils played a predominant
role in phenanthrene desorption from soils. Moreover, a
negative correlation was also existed between the amounts
of phenanthrene desorption and DOC contents (R = 0.786,
P < 0.05). The influence of other soil properties was also
examined. Soil pH and soil clay content showed negligible
effects on phenanthrene desorption from the soils with a
correlation coefficient of 0.54 or lower (P > 0.1).