Rapid PAH Determination in Urban Particulate Air Samples by HPLC with Fluorometric Detection and Programmed Excitation and Emission Wavelength Pairs

Abstract
A method for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by high-performance liquid chromatography using a fluorometric detector is proposed. A Hypersil Green PAH column and a program of nine excitation and emission wavelength pairs are used as a detection system. The mobile phase is a linear gradient of acetonitrile-water. The relative standard deviations are in the range of 1–10% at concentration levels of 0.02–0.6 ng/µL (n = 3). The detection limits are between 0.012 pg/µL for fluoranthene and 0.45 pg/µL for naphthalene. The method is applied to the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in particulate air samples from Madrid; a high volume sampler is used. The determination does not require a cleanup step because of the high selectivity and sensitivity of the proposed method. The results are compared with those obtained by gas chromatography using EPA Method TO-13.

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