Determination of 16 Kinds of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Atmospheric Fine Particles by Accelerated Solvent Extraction Coupled with High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract A method for determination of 16 kinds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in atmospheric fine particles (PM2.5) was developed based on accelerated solvent extraction-direct injection coupled with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). PM2.5 sample was collected by glass fiber membrane filter and pretreated with acetonitrile by accelerated solvent extraction. The extract was separated by ZORBAX Eclipse PAH column with acetonitrile and water as mobile phase, and then detected by ultraviolet and fluorescence detectors. The result showed that the 16 kinds of PAHs were well extracted, separated and detected with good linear relationships ( r = 0.9998) in the concentration range of 0.025-5.00 μg mL −1 . The recoveries were from 78.3% to 113.2%. The relative standard deviations ranged from 0.5% to 9.5%. The detection limits were 0.007-0.062 ng m −3 . The method was simple, rapid, accurate and sensitive, and suitable for the simultaneous determination of 16 kinds of PAHS in PM2.5.