THE QUANTIFICATION OF 4-RING TO 6-RING POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS IN INDOOR AIR SAMPLES BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the quantification of the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene(B[b]F), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and benzo[ghi]perylene (B[ghi]P) in the particulate matter of indoor air samples. Samples were collected on 1-mu-m pore size Fluoropore membrane filters and extracted with acetonitrile (ACN). The PAHs were analyzed on a polymeric octadecysilane, silica-based column (Vydac 201TP54) with fluorescence detection at selected excitation and emission wavelengths specific to the compounds of interest. A mobile phase gradient of water and ACN was used. The method is reproducible with percent relative standard deviations (%RSD) ranging from 5.0 to 9.6 for the five PAHs. Percent recoveries were ca. 100%. Analyses of various samples show that amounts of these five PAHs vary widely in air. A relatively short sampling time (five hours) is required and the procedure is capable of detecting < 1 ng m-3.