Detection of peroxyacetyl nitrate in air using chemiluminescence aerosol detector

A method for the rapid and sensitive determination of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) in air based on a chemiluminescence reaction with an alkaline solution of luminol in the chemiluminescence aerosol detector is described. The PAN is chromatographically separated from nitrogen dioxide and ozone in a packed column filled with 5 % OV-1 on Chromosorb 30/60 and the eluted PAN is detected via the direct reaction with the luminol solution consisting of 0.002 mol L^?1 luminol, 1 vol. % Brij-35 and 0.1 mol L^?1 KOH. The limit of detection is 14.9 ng m^?3 (3 ppt) of PAN. Alternatively, the PAN after separation is thermally converted to NO₂ which is detected by the chemiluminescence reaction with a solution consisting of 0.002 mol L^?1 luminol, 0.5 mol L^?1 KOH, 0.2 mol L^?1 Na₂SO₃, 0.1 mol L^?1 KI, 0.05 mol L^?1 EDTA and 0.5 vol. % triton X-100. The alternative approach affords the simultaneous determination of PAN and NO₂. The limit of detection is 50 ppt of PAN and 50 ppt of NO₂. The time resolution is 3 min. The method was applied to the measurement of ambient peroxyacetyl nitrate in air.