An international round-robin study for the analysis of particulate semi-volatile organics by thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry

Thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TD-GC/MS) is becoming more commonly used for the quantification and identification of organic compounds in particulate matter (PM), including ambient and source PM such as diesel particulate matter (DPM). It has been proven as an alternative to the traditional solvent extraction (SE) method and liquid injection gas chromatograph mass spectrometry (LI-GC/MS). However, little information is available on how different types of TD-GC/MS systems compare to each other for analysis of real-world PM samples or to direct LI-GC/MS for analysis of PM components in a test solution. To address this, CanmetENERGY Characterization Laboratory initiated a round robin with the participation of 10 laboratories worldwide. Three sample types were analysed: (i) a test solution with a suite of pure compounds commonly found in PM, analysed by TD-GC/MS and LI-GC/MS; (ii) a DPM sample, analysed by TD-GC/MS and SE; and (iii) an ambient PM sample, analysed by TD-GC/MS. The first part of the study showed good overall performance and comparability between the different TD-GC/MS systems and LI-GC/MS method for the analysis of PM components in a test solution, with some variability of results due to system types and parameters used, concentration of calibration standards, and whether or not an internal standards was used. The analysis of the DPM sample showed greater variability between laboratories and methods as many PM components were present near the detection limit and matrix effects particularly affected the TD-GC/MS analysis of heavier n-alkanes. In the last part of the study, for the analysis of an ambient PM sample by TD-GC/MS, the analysis of variance showed good comparison between labs for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (94% non-significant), but slightly lower for n-alkanes (68%) and biomarkers (57%).     

Nonpolar organic compounds in fine particles: quantification by thermal desorption–GC/MS and evidence for their significant oxidation in ambient aerosols in Hong Kong

Nonpolar organic compounds (NPOCs) in ambient particulate matter (PM) commonly include n-alkanes, branched alkanes, hopanes and steranes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The recent development of thermal desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD-GC/MS) has greatly reduced time and labor in their quantification by eliminating the laborious solvent extraction and sample concentration steps in the traditional approach that relies on solvent extraction. The simplicity of the TD-GCMS methods has afforded us concentration data of NPOCs in more than 90 aerosol samples in two aerosol field studies and 20 vehicular emissions-dominated source samples in Hong Kong over the past few years. In this work, we examine the interspecies relationships between select NPOCs and their concentration ratios to elemental carbon (EC) among the ambient samples and among the source samples. Our analysis indicates that hopanes were mainly from vehicular emissions and they were significantly oxidized in ambient PM. The hopane/EC ratio in ambient samples was on average less than half of the ratio in vehicular emissions-dominated source samples. This highlights the necessity in considering oxidation loss in applying organic tracer data in source apportionment studies. Select PAH/EC ratio–ratio plots reveal that PAHs had diverse sources and vehicular emissions were unlikely a dominant source for PAHs in Hong Kong. Biomass burning and other regional sources likely dominated ambient PAHs in Hong Kong.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon analysis in different matrices of the marine environment

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in marine samples of various types, i.e. seawater, sediment and mussel homogenate samples. The samples were spiked with standard PAH mixtures in both polar (acetonitrile) and non-polar (i-octane) solvents, then extracted. Extraction from seawater was performed by liquid/liquid extraction to hexane (LLE) and with solid phase extraction (SPE) discs. The water samples were filtered and unfiltered seawater, and redistilled water for comparison. The discs with PAHs adsorbed from water samples, and also the sediment and mussel homogenate samples, were extracted with acetonitrile by sonication. PAHs in the disc extracts and from the LLE were cleaned-up using TLC and next determined by GC/MS/IT (with ion-trap) and HPLC-DAD/UV. The analytical procedures were verified with deuterated PAH standard mixtures. The large differences in PAH recoveries (from 12 to 86% for sum, and from 3 to 135% for particular PAHs) do not depend solely on the type of matrix and analytical procedure applied (e.g. standard solvent, volume of evaporated sample), but also on the concentration and molecular structure of the analyte. Usually, only a fraction of each PAH content in the matrix is determined, depending on the particulate matter in seawater and the sorption properties of the solid matrix. The recoveries of deuterated PAHs are higher than those of non-deuterated compounds.     

大气有机物热脱附-全二维气相色谱-火焰离子化分析方法

全二维气相色谱（GC×GC）是20世纪90年代发展起来的具有高分辨率、高灵敏度、高峰容量等优势的分离技术,在我国将其用于大气挥发性有机物（VOCs）研究方面才刚刚起步.本文将GC-GC与氢火焰离子化检测器（FID）联用,构建了用于测量大气有机物的热脱附-全二维气相色谱-氢火焰离子化分析系统（TD-GC×GC-FID）.采用HP-5MS和HP-INNOWAX色谱柱,建立了C5-C15大气有机物分析方法,实现了一次分析过程同时分离非甲烷烃（NMHCs）、含氧挥发性有机物（OVOCs）和卤代烃等多种组分.利用标准物质和四级杆质谱（qMS）进行定性,外标法结合FID质量校正因子定量.目标物在GC-GC谱图中第一和第二维保留时间变化分别小于0.6s和0.02s,峰体积平均相对标准偏差为14.3%,其中烷烃和芳香烃为4.5%.标准曲线r2均值大于0.99,平均检出限为6.04ng,平均回收率为111%.利用该方法检测到2010年1月北京市区大气中400多种有机物（信噪比大于50）,鉴定了其中的103种物质,包括烷烃、烯烃、芳香烃、卤代烃、醛、酮、酯、醇和醚等.所测定有机物平均总浓度为51.3×10-9V/V,其中OVOCs约占51%,芳香烃约占30%,烷烃约占15%,卤代烃和烯烃分别占3%和1%.平均浓度最高的前3个组分是乙醇（9.84×10-9V/V）、丙酮（6.72×10-9V/V）和甲苯（3.48×10-9V/V）.     

Quantitative extraction of organic tracer compounds from ambient particulate matter collected on polymer substrates

Organic compounds in ambient particulate matter (PM) samples are used as tracers for PM source apportionment. These PM samples are collected using high volume samplers; one such sampler is an impactor in which polyurethane foam (PUF) and polypropylene foam (PPF) are used as the substrates. The polymer substrates have the advantage of limiting particle bounce artifacts during sampling; however these substrates may contain background organic additives. A protocol of two extractions with isopropanol followed by three extractions with dichloromethane (DCM) was developed for both substrate precleaning and analyte extraction. Some residual organic contaminants were present after precleaning; expressed as concentrations in a 24-h ambient PM sample, the residual amounts were 1 g m⁻³ for plasticizers and antioxidants, and 10 ng m⁻³ for n-alkanes with carbon number lower than 26. The quantification limit for all other organic tracer compounds was ≈0.1 ng m⁻³ in a 24-h ambient PM sample. Recovery experiments were done using NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM) Urban Dust (1649a); the average recoveries for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from PPF and PUF substrates were 117±8% and 107±11%, respectively. Replicate extractions were also done using the ambient samples collected in Nogales, Arizona. The relative differences between repeat analyses were less than 10% for 47 organic tracer compounds quantified. After the first extraction of ambient samples, less than 7% of organic tracer compounds remained in the extracted substrates. This method can be used to quantify a suite of semi- and non-polar organic tracer compounds suitable for source apportionment studies in 24-h ambient PM samples.     

Quantitative analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array-high-resolution mass spectrometric detection platform coupled to electrospray and atmospheric pressure photoionization sources

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are common pollutants present in atmospheric aerosols and other environmental mixtures. They are of particular air quality and human health concerns as many of them are carcinogenic toxins. They also affect absorption of solar radiation by aerosols, therefore contributing to the radiative forcing of climate. For environmental chemistry studies, it is advantageous to quantify PAH components using the same analytical technics that are commonly applied to characterize a broad range of polar analytes present in the same environmental mixtures. Liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array and high-resolution mass spectrometric detection (LC-PDA-HRMS) is a method of choice for comprehensive characterization of chemical composition and quantification of light absorption properties of individual organic compounds present in the environmental samples. However, quantification of non-polar PAHs by this method is poorly established because of their imperfect ionization in electrospray ionization (ESI) technique. This tutorial article provides a comprehensive evaluation of the quantitative analysis of 16 priority pollutant PAHs in a standard reference material using the LC–MS platform coupled with the ESI source. Results are further corroborated by the quantitation experiments using an atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) method, which is more sensitive for the PAH detection. The basic concepts and step-by-step practical guidance for the PAHs quantitative characterization are offered based on the systematic experiments, which include (1) Evaluation effects of different acidification levels by formic acid on the (+)ESI-MS detection of PAHs. (2) Comparison of detection limits in ESI+ versus APPI+ experiments. (3) Investigation of the PAH fragmentation patterns in MS² experiments at different collision energies. (4) Calculation of wavelength dependent mass absorption coefficient (MAC_λ) of the standard mixture and its individual PAHs using LC-PDA data. (5) Assessment of the minimal injected mass required for accurate quantification of MAC_λ of the standard mixture and of a multi-component environmental sample.     

气相色谱-三重四极杆串联质谱法检测环境空气中的多环芳烃

建立了气相色谱-三重四极杆串联质谱检测环境空气中多环芳烃的方法,并利用同位素稀释法对多环芳烃进行了测定。将该方法应用于华南地区某大型石化企业周边环境空气中多环芳烃的检测,并与气相色谱-质谱方法进行了对比。结果表明,该方法的仪器检出限（0.01~0.15 μg/L）和定量限（0.03~1.5 μg/L）均优于气相色谱-质谱法（0.1~0.8 μg/L和0.3~3.5 μg/L）,并有更好的灵敏度与选择性。当利用气相色谱-质谱作为检测手段时,回收率指示物氘代菲和进样内标六甲基苯均受到了杂质的严重干扰,影响了定量结果的准确性,而三重四极杆串联质谱很好地解决了这些问题。实际样品分析时,标准曲线中16种多环芳烃相对响应因子的相对标准偏差为2.60%~15.6%,氘代化合物的回收率为55.2%~82.3%,空白加标样品的回收率为98.9%~111%,平行样品的相对标准偏差为6.50%~18.4%,采样空白含量范围为未检出~44.3 pg/m³,实验室空白含量范围为未检出~36.5 pg/m³。上述研究表明,分析环境空气中的多环芳烃时,气相色谱-三重四极杆串联质谱方法值得推广。     

应用搅拌棒吸附萃取-热脱附-气相色谱/质谱法快速测定滇池水系中的16种多环芳烃

应用搅拌棒吸附萃取(SBSE)-热脱附(TDS)-气相色谱/质谱联用(GC/MS)方法测定了滇池水系(滇池和盘龙江上、中、下游)中16种多环芳烃(PAHs)的含量。方法快速简便,无有机溶剂污染,PAHs的最低检出限为1.0~468.8 pg,理论回收率在90%以上,加标回收率为83.1%~109.4%,相对标准偏差小于10%。测定结果表明,这16种多环芳烃在滇池水样中的含量为89.16 ng/L,在盘龙江上游水样中的含量为65.41 ng/L,在盘龙江中游水样中的含量为339.22 ng/L,而在盘龙江下游水样中的含量为62.25 ng/L,说明滇池水系已经受到一定的PAHs污染,加强对滇池、盘龙江中PAHs有机污染的控制势在必行。     

Development of a sensitive thermal desorption method for the determination of trihalomethanes in humid ambient and alveolar air

A sensitive and reliable method has been developed for the determination of trihalomethanes (THMs) in air samples through adsorption in sorbent tubes and thermal desorption (TD) of the compounds, followed by gas chromatography (GC)–mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. Three commercial sorbent materials were compared in terms of adsorption efficiency and breakthrough volume, finding Chromosorb 102 to be the most appropriate adsorbent for air sampling. The method allows us to reach detection limits of 0.03 ng (0.01 μg m⁻³ for 3 l of air), linear ranges from 0.1 to 2000 ng and specific uncertainties of ca. 5.0 ± 0.2 ng for all THMs. Several salts were tested to reduce water retention (from the humid air of an indoor swimming pool) at the sampling stage, Na₂SO₄ being the one that provides optimum efficiency. The method was validated by a new recovery study in which several tubes with and without adsorbent were spiked with THMs and analyzed by TD-GC/MS, recoveries ranging from 92% to 97% for all the compounds. Finally, the performance of the method was evaluated through the analysis of ambient air samples from an indoor swimming pool and alveolar air samples from swimmers to assess their THM uptake. THMs were found to be stable in the sorbent tubes for at least 1 month when stored at 4 °C.     

Characterization of military fog oil by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

The most commonly used military fog oil is characterized by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) coupled to either Flame Ionization Detection (FID) or Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometric Detection (TOFMS) to advance the knowledge regarding the complete chemical makeup of this complex matrix. Two different GC×GC column sets were investigated, one employing a non-polar column combined with a shape selective column and the other an inverse column set (medium-polar/non-polar). The inverse set maximizes the use of the two-dimensional separation space and segregates aliphatic from aromatic fractions. The shape selective column best separates individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the bulk oil. The results reveal that fog oil (FO) is composed mainly of aliphatic compounds ranging from C₁₀ to C₃₀, where naphthenes comprise the major fraction. Although many different species of aromatics are present, they constitute only a minor fraction in this oil, and no conjugated PAHs are found. The composition of chemically similar aliphatic constituents limits the analytical power of silica gel fractionation and GC–MS analysis to characterize FO. Among the aliphatic compounds identified are alkanes, cyclohexanes, hexahydroindanes, decalins, adamantanes, and bicyclohexane. The aromatic fraction is composed of alkylbenzene compounds, indanes, tetrahydronaphthalenes, partially hydrogenated PAHs, biphenyls, dibenzofurans and dibenzothiophenes. This work represents the best characterization of military fog oil to date. As the characterization process shows, information on such complex samples can only be parsed using a combination of sample preprocessing steps, multiple detection schemes, and an intelligent selection of column chemistries.     

Simple and sensitive method for determination of nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in diesel exhaust particles by gas chromatography-negative ion chemical ionisation tandem mass spectrometry

An extremely simple and sensitive method was developed for determination of nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (nitro-PAHs; mono-nitro-PAHs and dinitropyrenes) in diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) by gas chromatography-negative ion chemical ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (GC/NCI/MS/MS). We used two types of column in GC/NCI/MS/MS analysis. A polar column was used for determination of mono-nitro-PAHs, and a non-polar column was used for determination of dinitropyrenes and mono-nitro-PAHs except nitrofluoranthenes. The proposed method requires no clean-up procedure. The limits of detection ranged from 0.01 to 0.09 pg for all compounds tested. The applicability of the method to DEP samples was validated using diesel particulate standard reference materials (SRMs). Although DEPs contain complex matrices, all compounds could be detected easily in SRM2975 (diesel particulate matter) and SRM1975 (diesel particulate extract) without a clean-up procedure. The RSDs were less than 5% for all compounds examined. The quantitative results for SRMs exhibited good agreement with the available data in the literature. These results indicate that the proposed GC/NCI/MS/MS method is useful for determination of nitro-PAHs in DEP samples.     

The determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in human urine by high‐resolution gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organic compounds formed by at least two condensed aromatic rings, are ubiquitous environmental pollutants that are produced by incomplete combustion of organic materials. PAHs have been classified as carcinogenIC to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, because they can bind to DNA, causing mutations. Therefore, the levels of PAHs in human urine can be used as an indicator for potential carcinogenesis and cell mutation. An analytical method was developed for the accurate measurement of PAHs in urine using high‐resolution gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Urine samples were extracted by an Oasis HLB extraction cartridge after enzymatic hydrolysis with a β‐glucuronidase/arylsulfatase cocktail. The 18 PAHs were separated using an Agilent DB‐5 MS capillary column (30 m × 0.25 mm, 0.25 μm) and monitored by time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. Under the optimized method, the linearity of calibration curves was >0.994. The limits of detection at a signal‐to‐noise ratio of 3 were 10–100 ng/L. The coefficients of variation were in the range of 0.4–9.0%. The present method was highly accurate for simultaneous determination of 18 PAHs in human urine and could be applied to monitoring and biomedical investigations to check exposure of PAHs.     

Construction of an automated gas chromatography/mass spectrometry system for the analysis of ambient volatile organic compounds with on-line internal standard calibration

An automated sampling and enrichment apparatus coupled with a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) technique was constructed for the analysis of ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A sorbent trap was built within the system to perform on-line enrichment and thermal desorption of VOCs onto GC/MS. In order to improve analytical precision, calibration accuracy, and to safe-guard the long-term stability of this system, a mechanism to allow on-line internal standard (I.S.) addition to the air sample stream was configured within the sampling and enrichment apparatus. A sub-ppm (v/v) level standard gas mixture containing 1,4-fluorobenzene, chloropentafluorobenzene, 1-bromo-4-fluorobenzene was prepared from their pure forms. A minute amount of this I.S. gas was volumetrically mixed into the sample stream at the time of on-line enrichment of the air sample to compensate for measurement uncertainties. To assess the performance of this VOC GC/MS system, a gas mixture containing numerous VOCs at sub-ppb (v/v) level served as the ambient air sample. Various internal standard methods based on total ion count (TIC) and selective ion monitoring (SIM) modes were attempted to assess the improvement in analytical precision and accuracy. Precision was improved from 7-8% RSD without I.S. to 2-3% with I.S. for the 14 target VOCs. Uncertainties in the calibration curves were also improved with the adoption of I.S. by reducing the relative standard deviation of the slope (Sm%) by an average a factor of 4, and intercept (Sb%) by a factor of 2 for the 14 target VOCs.     

Comparison of microprobe two-step laser desorption/laser ionization mass spectrometry and gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry studies of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ancient terrestrial rocks

Microprobe two-step laser desorption/laser ionization mass spectrometry (μL²MS) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were used to analyze polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ancient terrestrial rocks. μL²MS provides an in situ analysis of very small samples, records the PAHs with no isomer information, and gives quantitative data on the degree of alkylation of a given PAH series over the complete mass range. GC/MS provides isomer separation and quantitation of PAHs in bitumen but not kerogen, and is limited by sample size. Combination of these techniques allows analysis of very small samples by μL²MS with GC/MS confirmation of isomer distributions of the solvent extractable components (bitumen). It was found that the concentration of bitumen within the rock samples affects the PAH alkylation signal for μL²MS. At low bitumen concentrations μL²MS can produce pyrolysis products from kerogen that is present; however, as bitumen concentrations increase, the PAH distribution from bitumen dominates the signal.     

热脱附-气相色谱质谱分析热环境下汽车沙发释放的挥发性有机物

汽车沙发部件在热环境中,会释放出许多挥发性有机物(VOC),污染环境,危害人体健康.本研究将汽车沙发放置在2 m3特制塑料采样袋中,在热环境下释放挥发性有机物,然后以Tenax管富集有机物,用热脱附-气相色谱质谱进行分析.结果表明:汽车沙发在热环境状态下,挥发出大量有机物,共定性检测出49种挥发性有机物(VOC),包括...     

Rapid analysis of PAHs in fly ash using thermal desorption and fast GC-TOF-MS

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are semivolatile organic compounds that may form as a result of incomplete combustion of organic materials. After they are produced in combustion systems, this class of chemicals can be emitted with flue gas or adsorbed in combustion residues such as fly ash and bed ash. The purpose of this study is to develop a thermal extraction (TE) method for the determination of the 16 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency specified priority PAH pollutants in fly ash. The commonly used method for determining PAHs in solid wastes is solvent extraction followed by gas chromatography (GC) or GC-mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. This method is work- and time-intensive and produces solvent waste. In this study, the samples are analyzed using TE and fast GC-time-of-flight (TOF)-MS. The complete process from extraction to analysis can be achieved in less than one hour. The results indicate that the TE-GC-TOF-MS method has good linear range from 1.5 to 60 micro g/g for all 16 PAHs. The recoveries for the 16 target PAHs vary between 83% and 94%.     

Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water by solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A solid-phase microextraction (SPME)-gas chromatography (GC)-mass spectrometry (MS) analytical method for the simultaneous separation and determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from aqueous samples has been developed, based on the sorption of target analytes on a selectively sorptive fibre and subsequent desorption of analytes directly into GC-MS. The influence of various parameters on PAH extraction efficiency by SPME was thoroughly studied. Results show that the fibre exposure time and the use of agitation during exposure are critical in enhancing SPME performance. The presence of colloidal organic matter (as simulated by humic acid) in water samples is shown to significantly reduce the extraction efficiency, suggesting that SPME primarily extracts the truly dissolved compounds. This offers the significant advantage of allowing the differentiation between freely available dissolved compounds and those associated with humic material and potentially biologically unavailable. The method showed good linearity up to 10 μg/l. The reproducibility of the measurements expressed as relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) was generally <20%. The method developed was then applied to extract PAHs from sediment porewater samples collected from the Mersey Estuary, UK. Total PAH concentrations in porewater were found to vary between 95 and 742 ng/l with two to four ring PAHs predominating. Results suggest that SPME has the potential to accurately determine the dissolved concentrations of PAHs in sediment porewater.     

二维气相色谱技术分析汽油中的3种酯类化合物

建立了一种采用填充柱切割-反吹二维气相色谱分析汽油中酯类化合物（包括乙酸乙酯、乙酸仲丁酯、碳酸二甲酯）的方法。利用非极性填充预柱将汽油中沸点低于正辛烷的轻组分保留进入分析柱,重组分反吹放空,轻组分和酯类化合物经一个装填有强极性固定相的色谱柱分离分析。采用外标法定量,3种酯类化合物在50~50000 mg/L范围内线性关系良好,相关系数（r²）分别为0.99999、1.00000和0.99995,标准样品6次重复性测定的相对标准偏差（RSD）均小于1.0%,回收率在98.7%~107.9%之间,方法检出限（S/N=3）为5 mg/L。该方法不需要进行样品前处理,具有操作简单,准确高效的特点,是汽油中酯类化合物测定的理想分析方法。     

Naphthalene,a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon,in the fish samples from the Bangsai river of Bangladesh by gas chromatograph–mass spectrometry

Naphthalene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), was detected and quantified in the selected varieties of fishes collected from the Bangsai river, one of the contaminated rivers located at Savar near the Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ), Bangladesh, during the period October 2009. Naphthalene, a carcinogenic compound, was analyzed by GC–MS as it was in the mixture of dichloromethane–hexane (1:1) crude extract of the flesh of fish samples collected from the aforesaid river. A suitable and reliable procedure for the extraction of naphthalene from the fish sample has been developed. A multi-layer clean-up (silica gel) column was used, followed by glass fiber filter (GFF) paper to eliminate the interfering organic compounds as well as the lipids and fat. It was observed that PAHs deposition on the samples takes place in different morphological parts of the biological materials. The PAH, naphthalene, was found in almost all of the fish samples and the concentration of which was in the range 0.030–1.004 μg/g. Recovery studies with fortified samples indicated that the recovery efficiency for naphthalene was about 79.14%. This concentration is within the range of values reported for other comparable regions of the world.