Abstract: Thirty soil samples were collected from the top layers of farmlands in some selected sites,in Xinghua,Wujiang,Yixing and Luhe of Nanjing in Jiangsu Province and tested for contents of 16 types of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) with the aid of HPLC.Contents of PAHs varied widely from 45.6 to 2 286.8 μg·kg^-1,averaging 1 370.3 and 801.1 μg·kg^-1,respectively,for samples from Xinghua and Wujiang,signifying severe pollution,and 210.8 and 126.7 μg·kg^-1,respectively,for those from Yixing and Luhe,meaning slight pollution or zero pollution.Based on the relative abundances of PAHs different in ring number,the ratios of Phe/Ant and Fla/Pyr and the findings of the site investigations,it was found that PAHs in the soils came from a number of sources,such as exhaust from automotives,combustion of coal,burning of straws and wood,leakage of petroleum,etc.