Characterization and quantification of PAH atmospheric pollution from a large petrochemical complex in Guangzhou: GC–MS/MS analysis

•GC–MS/MS was used to analysis PAHs in the air samples.•More sensitivity and selectivity results were obtained using GC–MS/MS.•Both high concentrations of PAHs and the percentage of volatile PAHs were found.

A gas chromatograph coupled to a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer (GC–MS/MS) was optimized to measure the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in air samples. Isotope dilution was employed to analyze air samples collected from a large petrochemical complex in Guangzhou. The concentrations of PAHs in these air samples ranged from 279 to 1243 ng m− 3, with the main components being two- and three-ring PAHs. The Ant/(Ant + Phe) ratios ranged from 0.037 to 0.078, with an average value of 0.060, indicating that the sources of PAHs were primarily petrogenic because all of the ratios were < 0.1. The air concentrations of PAHs and the percentage of volatile PAHs were both higher than those reported in other studies conducted in this region. These results indicate that this large petrochemical complex has a significant effect on air pollution.