Pearson's correlationan alysis was employed to characterize the
relationship between total concentrations of PAHs extracted from
the root and the concentrations of PAHs extractedby different
mild solvent extraction from the sediments under flooding and
aging conditions. The correlation coefficients (Table3) between
the concentrations of PAHs in the root and the HPCD extraction
closely approached 1. These results indicated that extraction by
HPCD aqueous solution was a suitable method for predicting
bioaccumulation in the root of K. obovata seedlings (bioavailability
of PAHs)in flooded and aged mangrove sediment.