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Abstract
HPLC with ultraviolet detection and wavelength programming was used to determine nineteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in airborne diesel exhaust particulates. Eleven of these PAHs are included in the priority pollutants list of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Separation of PAHs is made with 5-μm polymeric C18 column. The possibility of selecting the optimum wavelengths for each PAH gives the advantages of improved selectivity and increased sensitivity. Detection limits ranging from 0.1 to 0.2 ng are reached for most PAHs. Samples were soxhlet extracted and different organic solvents were compared.
The best results were obtained by use of acetonitrile. The recoveries obtained were > 70%. Clean-up of diesel particulate extracts was not found necessary for accurate quantification of most of PAHs studied.