Methodology for the extraction, clean-up and quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban particulate matter.

Abstract

A reliable methodology for identification and quantification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in atmospheric aerosols has been developed, using extraction with dichloromethane, a clean-up step for purification and fractionation of the sample compounds on a silica column and quantification by GC-MSD. The percentage of recovery for the analytical procedure was 61- 113 %, depending on each PAH. The analytical protocol, introducing a significant economy of time and reagents, was applied to the quantification of PAHs in urban atmospheric aerosols PM10 samples, collected in Santiago de Chile city, between october and november of 1999.