Highly sensitive automatic analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in indoor and outdoor air

A method for the quantitation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in indoor and outdoor air by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a spectrofluorometric detection and programmed excitation and emission wavelength pairs is proposed. The mobile phase is a linear gradient of methanol-water. The relative standard deviations (n=5) are in the range 0.35-1.7% at concentration levels of 0.69-11.40 ng ml(-1). The determination limits (S/N= 10) are 0.5-15.9 pg. The proposed method was successfully applied to quantitate 12 PAHs in gas phase and particulates in indoor and outdoor air. The recoveries of PAHs From gas phase and particulates were 95.7-117.5 and 94.8-112.4%, respectively. This highly sensitive automatic HPLC analysis for PAHs both in gas phase and particulates can be applied to indoor and outdoor survey. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.