School of Environmental and Energy, Jiangxi Modern Polytechnic College, Nanchang 330095, China.
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 200335, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Feb 27;19(5):2790. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19052790.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of the most common and widespread contaminants. The accumulation of PAHs has made a certain impact on the environment and is seriously threatening human health. Numerous general analytical methods suitable for PAHs were developed. With the development of economy, the environmental problems of PAHs in modern society are more extensive and prominent, and attract more attention from environmental scientists and analysts. Deeper understanding of the properties of PAHs depends on the advent of detection methods, which can also be more conducive to promoting the protection of the environment. Till now, more sensitive, more high-speed and more high-throughput analytical tools are being invented and have played important roles in the research of PAHs. In this short review article, we focused mainly on the contemporary analytical methods about PAHs. We started with a brief review on the hazards, migration, distribution and traditional analysis methods of PAHs in recent years, including liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy and so on. We also presented the applications of the modern ambient mass spectrometry, especially microwave plasma torch mass spectrometry, in the detection of PAHs, as well as the far out novel results in our lab by using microwave plasma torch (MPT) mass spectrometry; for example, some new insights about Birch reduction, regular hydrogen addition and the robustness of molecular structure. These studies have demonstrated the versatility of MPT MS as a platform in the research of PAHs.
多环芳烃（PAHs）是最常见和分布最广泛的污染物之一。PAHs 的积累对环境造成了一定的影响，严重威胁着人类健康。已经开发出许多适用于 PAHs 的通用分析方法。随着经济的发展，现代社会中 PAHs 的环境问题更加广泛和突出，引起了环境科学家和分析人员的更多关注。对 PAHs 性质的更深入了解取决于检测方法的出现，这也更有利于促进环境保护。到目前为止，更灵敏、更高速和更高通量的分析工具正在被发明，并在 PAHs 的研究中发挥了重要作用。在这篇简短的综述文章中，我们主要关注当代 PAHs 的分析方法。我们首先简要回顾了近年来 PAHs 的危害、迁移、分布和传统分析方法，包括液相色谱、气相色谱、表面增强拉曼光谱等。我们还介绍了现代环境质谱，特别是微波等离子体炬质谱在 PAHs 检测中的应用，以及我们实验室利用微波等离子体炬（MPT）质谱获得的一些新颖的远未被报道的结果；例如，关于 Birch 还原、规则氢加成和分子结构稳健性的一些新见解。这些研究表明，MPT MS 作为 PAHs 研究平台具有多功能性。
