scholarly journals Determination of atmospheric particulate-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from low volume air samples

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juana Mari Delgado-Saborit ◽  
Noel Aquilina ◽  
Stephen Baker ◽  
Stuart Harrad ◽  
Claire Meddings ◽  
...  
2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Turk-Sekulic ◽  
Jelena Radonic ◽  
Mirjana Vojinovic-Miloradov ◽  
Nevena Senk ◽  
Marija Okuka

Results of partial or total destruction of industrial plants, military targets, infrastructure, uncontrolled fires and explosions during the conflict period from 1991 to 1999, at the area of Western Balkans, were large amounts of hazardous organic matter that have been generated and emitted in the environment. In order to assess gas/particle partition of seven EPA polychlorinated biphenyls and sixteen EPA polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, twenty air samples have been collected at six urban, industrial and highly contaminated localities in Vojvodina. Hi-Vol methodology has been used for collecting ambiental air samples, that simultaneously collects gaseous and particulate phase with polyurethane foam filters (PUF) and glass fiber filters (GFF). PUF and GFF filters have been analyzed, and concentration levels of gaseous PCBs and PAHs molecules in gaseous and particulate phase were obtained, converted and expressed through fraction of individual compounds sorbed onto particulate phase of the sample, in total detected quantity. Experimentally gained gas/particle partitioning values of PCBs and PAHs molecules have been compared with PP-LFER model estimated values. Significant deviation has been noticed during comparative analysis of estimated polyparameter model values for complete set of seven PCBs congeners. Much better agreement of experimental and estimated values is for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, especially for molecules with four rings. These results are in a good correlation with literature data where polyparameter model has been used for predicting gas/particle partition of studied group of organic molecules.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Scaramboni ◽  
Jordan Brizi Neris ◽  
Rita de Kássia Silva do Nascimento ◽  
Natasha Leandra Chiaranda da Rosa ◽  
Jonatas Schadeck Carvalho ◽  
...  

This work describes the optimization of an extraction method for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their nitro- and oxy-PAH derivatives in atmospheric particulate matter (PM) samples, and demonstrates that this method is also effective for the determination of levoglucosan. The optimization of the extraction solvents was performed using a three-component mixture design with the solvents dichloromethane, methanol, and acetonitrile. The number of extractions, volume of solvent, and duration of extraction in an ultrasonic bath were optimized using a full factorial design followed by a central composite design. The analyses were performed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The optimized conditions of the method were three extractions using 4.0 ml of acetonitrile, with ultrasonication for 34 min. The proposed method presented good linearity (r > 0.990) and acceptable precision for low (100 ng ml−1, RSD: 1–16%), medium (300 ng ml−1, RSD: 1–19%), and high (500 ng ml−1, RSD: 2–16%) concentrations of PAHs. The limits of quantification for different PAHs ranged from 10 to 50 ng ml−1, which were suitable for atmospheric PM. Assessment of the method using sample matrix spiking/recovery assays, as well as use of a reference method, showed good recoveries for levoglucosan and for most of the PAHs and their derivatives, except for the most volatile compounds, which were lost during the evaporation of the solvent. The results for PM samples extracted by the optimized method and the reference method were in good agreement. The proposed method required 97% less solvent than the reference method, shortened the analysis time by 85%, and proved to be accurate and precise for the determination of at least 27 PAHs and their derivatives present in PM samples collected with a low-volume sampler.


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