Gas-liquid chromatographic determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in airborne particulates

Abstract

This paper describes a method for the routine determination of 13 typical types of 3–5 ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), occurring in airborne particulates, using gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) with a packed column. The PAHs were completely separated except for the overlap of benzo[k]fluoranthene and benzo[e]pyrene under the proposed GLC conditions. Cyclohexane and a cyclohexane-chloroform (8 + 2) solvent system for column chromatography (CC) were the most effective of the five solvent systems in eliminating interfering components. The average recoveries of the 13 types of PAHs by a CC procedure were in the range 81–103%. An internal standard (1,3,5-triphenylbenzene) method was used to calculate the concentrations of PAHs.