Dept. Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, Spanish National Research Council (IDÆA-CSIC), c/Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034, Barcelona, Spain.
Environ Monit Assess. 2023 Feb 7;195(3):368. doi: 10.1007/s10661-023-10953-z.
A method based on the use of GC coupled to Q-exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry (GC-Orbitrap-MS) has been developed for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at sub-picogram levels. Outdoor ambient air particulate matter (PM2.5) and standard reference materials (SRM2260a) were analyzed in full scan mode showing low instrumental uncertainties (1-22%) and high linearity over a wide concentration range (0.5 pg and 500 pg/μL). Good reproducibility was obtained compared to the use of conventional single quadrupole GC-MS of PM samples. The quantification limit of the GC-Orbitrap-MS method for full scan analysis of PAHs in outdoor ambient air PM samples was 0.5 pg/μL. This low limit allowed the analysis of PAHs in samples collected with low volumes (< 0.5 m), such as punch samples from whole filters or filter strips from personal exposure monitoring equipment. PAHs were successfully analyzed in filter strips from real-time Aethalometer AE51 equivalent black carbon (eBC) analyzers used in urban and rural sites, and in personal exposure monitors of firefighters during prescribed burns. The correlations between PAHs and eBC in these analyses were very strong (r ≥ 0.93). However, the equations obtained reflected the dominance of different emission sources, such as traffic in urban areas, wood burning for domestic heating, or wildfires. The method reported here affords the analyses of PAHs in high precision studies of atmospheric PM samples, e.g., high frequency sampling of low volumes, affording personal exposure monitoring assessments.
一种基于气相色谱-轨道阱高分辨质谱联用（GC-Orbitrap-MS）的方法已被开发用于亚皮克级多环芳烃（PAHs）的分析。采用全扫描模式对户外环境空气颗粒物（PM2.5）和标准参考物质（SRM2260a）进行分析，仪器不确定度低（1-22%），在较宽的浓度范围内具有较高的线性（0.5 pg 和 500 pg/μL）。与传统的单四极杆 GC-MS 相比，PM 样品的重现性较好。GC-Orbitrap-MS 方法用于户外环境空气 PM 样品中多环芳烃的全扫描分析的定量限为 0.5 pg/μL。这种低的检测限允许分析使用小体积（<0.5 m）采集的样品中的 PAHs，如全滤膜的点切割样品或个人暴露监测设备的滤膜条。成功地分析了实时 Aethalometer AE51 等效黑碳（eBC）分析仪的滤膜条和消防队员在规定燃烧期间的个人暴露监测仪中的滤膜条中的 PAHs。这些分析中 PAHs 与 eBC 之间的相关性非常强（r≥0.93）。然而，得到的方程反映了不同排放源的主导地位，如城市地区的交通、家庭取暖用木材燃烧或野火。本报告所报道的方法可用于大气 PM 样品的高精度研究中的 PAHs 分析，例如，小体积的高频采样，可进行个人暴露监测评估。
