New approach for screening polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water samples

For the first time, solid-phase extraction (SPE) has been combined to room-temperature phosphorimetry (RTP) to determine the 16 polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons related as major pollutants by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These include naphthalene, anthracene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, fluoranthene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, pyrene, chrysene, phenanthrene, benzo(g,h,i)perylene and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene. The pre-concentration factor obtained by SPE, combined with the sensitivity of RTP, resulted in calibration curves with linear dynamic ranges at the parts-per-billion level (ng ml(-1)). The limits of detection were estimated at the parts-per-trillion level (pg ml(-1)). Several pollutants usually encountered in water samples were tested for interference. These included polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds. As a result of the appropriate combination of excitation wavelength (330 nm) and phosphorescence enhancers (0.1 M TlNO(3) and 0.05 M sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS), no interference was observed. The results demonstrate the potential of SPE-RTP for screening polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in environmental waters.