Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a sediment core from Lake Taihu and their associations with sedimentary organic matter

•Historical occurrence of PAHs in lake Taihu were reconstructed from a sediment core.•High-ring PAHs posed relatively higher fractions and concentrations in recent decades.•Different components of SOM were identified by n-alkane markers.•Sedimentary PAHs were associated with both anthropogenic and biogenic SOM.•The toxicity of PAHs rapidly increased in recent sediments.