Development and optimization of a plunger assisted solvent extraction method for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons sampled onto multi-channel silicone rubber traps

A plunger assisted solvent extraction (PASE) method for multi-channel silicone rubber trap samplers was developed and evaluated as an alternative to direct thermal desorption for the monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The proposed extraction method was simple, fast (a total of 2 min for extraction), and used a small volume of solvent (a total of 2 mL from two sequential 1 mL extractions). The PASE method presented an advantage over thermal desorption in that samples could be re-analyzed, as only a portion of the extract was injected. Additionally, this approach is cost effective and can be applied in laboratories which do not have thermal desorption systems, hence allowing for the more widespread use of the polydimethylsiloxane samplers which can be employed as denuders in the monitoring of gas and particle partitioning of air pollutants. The method was validated over a wide concentration range (0.005-10 ng μL−1) and the limits of detection ranged from 13.6 ng m−3 for naphthalene to 227.1 ng m−3 for indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene. Overall extraction efficiencies of the target PAHs were good (from 76% for naphthalene to 99% for phenanthrene) with relative standard deviations below 6%. The PASE method was successfully applied to the analysis of domestic fire air emission samples taken at 10 and 20 min after ignition, using a sampling flow rate of 500 mL min−1 for 10 min in each case. The samples were found to contain primarily naphthalene (maximum concentration of 9.5 μg m−3, 10 min after ignition), as well as fluorene, anthracene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene.