Rapid and sensitive determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in atmospheric particulates using fast high-performance liquid chromatography with on-line enrichment system

A method using on-line enrichment and fast high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection has been developed and validated for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in atmospheric particulate samples. The evaporation step for sample preparation can be eliminated since this system allows the injection of 1000 μL of sample solution. PAH recoveries were between 87% and 120% for spiked atmospheric particulate samples. The limit of detection was 0.02-0.23 ng/mL (signal/noise ratio = 3.3). There was good linear correlation between HPLC peak area and PAH concentration, with a linear range of 0.4-40 ng/mL and correlation coefficients >0.997. Furthermore, compared to conventional approaches that include an evaporation step, the method proposed is acceptable for detecting PAHs in atmospheric particulate samples.