PAHs are a class of toxic, lipophilic chemicals widely spread in the environment. Humans are exposed to PAHs through different pathway, but the dietary source represents the major route of exposure to PAHs in non-smokers and in non-occupationally exposed people. Food can be contaminated from environmental sources especially anthropogenic sources without exclude natural ones. PAHs can enter the food chain by deposition from air or by deposition and transfer from soil and water. The aim of this study was to verify the diffusion of six PAHs (benzo(a)anthracene [BaA], benzo(a)pyrene [BaP], benzo(b)fluoranthene [BbF], benzo(k)fluoranthene [BkF], crysene [Cry] and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene [dBahA]) in the vegetable foods from the Campania region collected in three-year period 2014-2016. Moreover, the study also aimed to understand the origin of the widespread contamination of BaA, in particular the kind of adsorption process involved (leaves, root adsorption etc.). Therefore, turnip (Brassica rapa) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) were grown in the presence of the BaA both in a controlled environment (in vitro) and in a more complex system as soil (in vivo). In both the approach two BaA rates were applied (50 e 100 mg kg-1) by exceeding contamination level reached in other studies. The results of monitoring activity indicated that PAH contamination in plant matrices was a definitely spread phenomenon with the lower contamination when compared with those found in other food matrices (smoked meat and smoked or not fish products). In fact, although most of the analyzed samples showed PAH values below the limit of quantification (