SIMULTANEOUS MICROEMULSION ROOM-TEMPERATURE PHOSPHORIMETRIC DETERMINATION OF 5 POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS BY VARIABLE-ANGLE SYNCHRONOUS SCANNING

Five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, i.e. acenaphthene, fluoranthene , pyrene, benz[a]anthracene and benzo[a]pyrene were simultaneously det ermined by variable-angle synchronous scanning (VASS) microemulsion ph osphorimetry at room temperature. The phosphorescence emissions of the five compounds have been obtained using sodium sulphite as O-2 scaven ger and thallium(I) nitrate as heavy atom salt perturbation in sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) microemulsion aqueous solutions. In order to ob tain the optimum phosphorescence responses, a statistical model of cen tral composite design type, was applied. Despite the closely overlappi ng profiles of the five phosphorescent compounds, the increased select ivity afforded by the VASS technique has permitted their simultaneous determination after addition to road dust samples giving mean recoveri es of 87.6% with a relative standard deviation of 3.0%, (n=5). (C) 199 7 Elsevier Science B.V.