16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured by GC-MS for 13 suspended particle matter samples collected from Jialing River in Chongqing in rainy season. The results showed that the total concentrations of 16 PAHs ranged from 447.47 ng/g to 1 344.92 ng/g, with a mean value of 927.48 ng/g. The concentration of total PAHs in suspended particle matter showed the trend of“up-down-up-down”in spatial distribution in the 13 sampling sites. The predominant PAHs in suspended particle matter were 4 ring PAHs, which accounting for 41.87% of the tatal PAHs. The ratio analysis and principle factor analysis-multiple linear regression(PCA-MLR) indicated that the major source of PAHs was the engine combustion source, in which the proportion of gasoline combustion and diesel combustion were 37.79% and 29.97%, respectively. The ecological risk of PAHs was evaluated by the effects range median values (ERM) and the effects range low values (ERL). The results illustrated that Acy, Ace, Fl and DahA had certain ecological risks, while the ERL values of other12 PAHs in all suspended particle matter samples were lower than the ERL guideline value,namely, PAHs in Jialing River in Chongqing could not cause obvious ecological risk.