Selective determination of substituted PAH in aerosols using liquid CO2-extraction,HPLC prefractionation on chemically activated silica,and HRGC combined with negative ion mass spectrometry

A method is described which allows the determination of different substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) such as NO₂-PAH, carbazoles, keto-PAH, and aza-arenes in aerosol samples. Liquid CO₂-extraction is used to minimize the loss of reactive compounds. High performance liquid chromatography on chemically activated silica is employed to prefractionate the samples into subfractions with a minimum of overlap between different PAH compound classes. Both electron capture detection and negative ion chemical ionization combined with capillary gas chromatography are used for identification and quantification. The latter method also allows distinction between isomers with different toxic properties when N₂O/CH₄ reaction gas mixtures are used. Selectivity for tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxins as against pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls can be improved by this technique. The applicability of the method is critically discussed and different examples are given.