DETERMINATION OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS IN AIRBORNE DIESEL EXHAUST PARTICULATES BY HPLC WITH UV DETECTION AND WAVELENGTH PROGRAMMING

HPLC with ultraviolet detection and wavelength programming was used to determine nineteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in airborne diesel exhaust particulates. Eleven of these PAHs are included in the priority pollutants list of the US Environmental Protection Agency. S eparation of PAHs is made with 5-mu m polymeric C-18 column. The possi bility of selecting the optimum wavelengths for each PAH gives the adv antages of improved selectivity and increased sensitivity. Detection l imits ranging from 0.1 to 0.2 ng are reached for most PAHs. Samples we re soxhlet extracted and different organic solvents were compared. The best results were obtained by use of acetonitrile. The recoveries obt ained were > 70%. Clean-up of diesel particulate extracts was not foun d necessary for accurate quantification of most of PAHs studied.