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Determination of nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in atmospheric aerosols using HPLC fluorescence with a post-column derivatisation technique

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to develop an efficient and sensitive analytical protocol for the determination of nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs) in aerosol samples. The separation of 16 NPAH (mono-and dinitro-PAH) was achieved by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) followed by =.28w?>on-line reduction of the NPAHs to their corresponding amino polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (APAHs) and quantification by fluorescence detection. The main factors affecting the on-line reduction efficiency, such as the flow rate, the temperature, the position and packing of the reduction column were evaluated and optimised. The optimal conditions obtained were: packing of the reduction column with Pt-Al2O3; a reduction column oven temperature of 90 °C; a flow rate of 0.8 mL min−1. The resulting detection limits of the method ranged between 0.06 (2 NN) and 1.25 μg L−1 (1.8 DNN), with an uncertainty of about 6%. The lifetime of the reduction column was identical to that of a typical analytical column. This analytical method was applied to particulate matter samples collected during December 2005 and August 2006 in Strasbourg (Alsace, eastern France). The NPAH concentrations observed for this urban site showed that the compounds are more abundant during winter (average of 534 pg m−3) than during summer (average of 118 pg m−3). 1-Nitropyrene was the predominant NPAH species, independent of season.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Prof. Alain Kiennemann for his help with the design of the Pt-Al2O3 reduction column and Dr Loïc Charbonnière for permitting his spectrofluorimeter to be used for the acquisition of NPAH fluorescence data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie de l’Atmosphère, UMR 7517, CNRS-Université Louis Pasteur, Centre de Géochimie de la Surface, 1 rue Blessig, 67084, Strasbourg cedex, France

    Olivier Delhomme & Maurice Millet

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-1604, USA

    Olivier Delhomme & Pierre Herckes

Authors
  1. Olivier Delhomme
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  2. Pierre Herckes
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  3. Maurice Millet
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Correspondence to Maurice Millet.

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Delhomme, O., Herckes, P. & Millet, M. Determination of nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in atmospheric aerosols using HPLC fluorescence with a post-column derivatisation technique. Anal Bioanal Chem 389, 1953–1959 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-007-1562-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-007-1562-y

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