An analytical method coupling accelerated solvent extraction and HPLC-fluorescence for the quantification of particle-bound PAHs in indoor air sampled with a 3-stages cascade impactor

Abstract

Most of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are associated to airborne particles and their health impact depends on the particle size where they are bound. This work aims to develop a high sensitive analytical technique to quantify particulate PAHs sampled with a 3-stages cascade impactor in order to derive simultaneously their individual concentration in PM1, PM2.5 and PM10. Three key steps of the method were evaluated separately in order to avoid any PAHs loss during the global sample preparation procedure: (1) the accelerated solvent extraction of PAHs from the filter; (2) the primary concentration of the extract until 1 mL by means of a rotary evaporator at 45°C and 220 mbar and (3) the final concentration of the pre-concentrated extract to about 100-150 µL under a gentle nitrogen stream. Each recovery experiment was realized in triplicates. All these steps evaluated independently show that the overall PAHs loss, even for those with a low molecular weight, should not exceed more than a few percent. Extracts were then analyzed by using a HPLC coupled to fluorescence and Diode Array Detectors with the external standard method. The resulting calibration curves containing between 9 and 12 points were plotted in the concentration range of 0.05-45 µg L(-1) for most of the 16 US-EPA priority PAHs and were fully linear (R(2)>0.999). Limits Of Quantification were in the range 0.05-0.47 µg L(-1) corresponding to 0.75-7.05 pg m(-3) for 20 m(3) of pumped air. Finally, taking into account the average PAHs concentrations previously reported in typical European indoor environments, and considering the use of a 3-stages cascade impactor to collect simultaneously PM>10 µm, 2.5 µm<PM<10 µm, 1 µm<PM<2.5 µm and PM<1 (and then to derive PM1, PM2.5 and PM10) for particle-bound PAHs quantification, the sampling duration was estimated to 20-40 h for a sampling flow fixed to 0.5m(3)h(-1).

Cytotoxic and genotoxic responses of human lung cells to combustion smoke particles of Miscanthus straw, softwood and beech wood chips

“…The Water Soluble Organic Compound (WSOC) fraction was extracted from the PM using pure water and then quantified using a total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer (TOC-V Series, Shimadzu, Columbia, USA). To quantify the 16 PAHs recommended for analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), we used an Accelerated Solvent Extractor (ASE 300, Dionex, Sunnyvale, USA) followed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled with two detectors: a Diode Array Detector (DAD, Thermo Finnigan, Spectra System UV6000LP, Waltham, USA) and a fluorescence detector (Thermo Scientific, Finnigan Surveyor FL Plus, USA), following an analytical method (HPLC-FL-DAD) that was recently published (Liaud et al, 2015). …”

Método Optimizado Para La Determinación De Hidrocarburos Aromáticos Policíclicos Asociados a Partículas Atmosféricas

“…Sin embargo, con los aparatos modernos se ha mejorado visiblemente su resolución, empleando detectores de FL, que son más sensibles que los que se empleaban anteriormente en los equipos de HPLC (luz UV) (por ejemplo: Dong et al 1976, Krstulovic et al 1976. De hecho, los nuevos equipos de cromatografía líquida superan en sensibilidad a los aparatos GC, aunque esto depende fuertemente de las características del equipo empleado y de la columna utilizada (Gratz et al 2000, Liaud et al 2015. Otras ventajas adicionales del uso de HPLC en vez de GC es que se pueden emplear acarreadores más económicos y de fácil manipulación, temperaturas de trabajo más bajas y columnas de separación más versátiles.…”

Progress in field‐assisted extraction and its application to solid sample analysis

“…With the good advantages of this method, it had appeared as proposed Method 3545 in Update III of the US EPA SW‐846 Methods soon after it was first described in 1995. There are also numerous different studies using ASE to extract polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) , polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) , lutein, alkaloids , steroid and lipids , essential oils , and other nutraceuticals from foods, environmental samples, and herbal plants.…”