DETERMINATION OF 19 PAHS IN AIR SAMPLES USING GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY

The aim of our study was to develop an efficient and selective method for the determination and quantification of 19 PAH compounds in the atmosphere of the Thessaloniki region in Greece. Air samples were collected in two sampling sites in the area of Thessaloniki between January and mid April of 2013, an urban background site and a traffic site the. Nineeteen PAHs were analysed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. PAHs identification was accomplished using PAHs standards solutions. The calibration curves were estimated using the internal standard calibration method. For the quality assurance and control, laboratory blanks and field blanks were extracted and analyzed in the same way as the samples. It is noted that all calibration curves showed good linearity (over 0.995). The method detection limit (for a volume of air of 55 m(3)) ranged from 0.008 to 0.27 ng m(-3), depending on the specific PAH compound considered. Validation of the analytical procedure was carried out by analyzing a standard reference material of urban particulate matter (NIST, SRM 1649b). This analysis was in good agreement to the certified values (i.e. PAH recoveries above 80%). Concentrations in samples from the two monitoring stations showed variations both in PM fractions and PAH compounds. PAHs concentrations were higher in the urban background station, due to the increse in biomass combustion.