Simultaneous Determination of 79 Polar and Non-Polar Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds in Airborne Particulate Matter by Gas Chromatography – Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Research on Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (PACs) in the atmospheric environment has been mainly focused on the 16 EPA's PAHs. Due to toxicological relevance and particular emission sources, there is a research need in broadening the scope of PACs analysis to include polar and semi-polar PACs in new analytical methods. Here, we describe a single GC-MS/MS method to simultaneously determine 79 polar, semi-polar and non-polar PACs. Temperature gradient and injection conditions were optimized. Optimal Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) and pseudo-MRM mass transitions were searched to enhance the detection. PACs were extracted from particulate samples by Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE). The choice of the optimal extraction solvent was carefully evaluated. Instrumental LOQ were from 1 to 2 ng. The method was validated against linearity of the calibration, intra-day and inter-day variability, LOQ and recoveries. The analysis of a Diesel Particulate Matter Certified Reference Material enabled a firm method validation. The method was applied to PM10 samples from a residential parking lot. PACs total amount varied from 2.3 to 14 ng/m3. The most abundant PACs were phthalic anhydride, 1,8-naphthalic anhydride and benzo(b)fluoranthene. PAHs diagnostic ratios enabled the identification of fuel combustion and vehicular traffic as the main source of PACs.