Determination of oxygenated and nitro polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in airborne particulate matter and tree barks by UHPLC-(+)APCI-MS/MS

FABIÁN FUJIWARA; MARIA GUIÑEZ; SOLEDAD CERUTTI; PATRICIA SMICHOWSKI

Figueira da Foz, Portugal

Congreso; ?Colloquium Spectroscopium Internationale XXXIX; 2015

The content of two oxygenated and two nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons namely, OPAHs and NPAHs in two relevant environmental matrices such as airborne particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), and tree barks was assessed. Four key pollutants were measured: (i) 1-nitropyrene (1-NPYR), (ii) 9-nitroanthracene (9-NANTH), (iii) 2-fluorenecarboxaldehyde (2-FLUCHO), and (iv) 5,12-naphthacenequinone (5,12-NAPTH-ONA) [1]. For PM2.5 and PM10 collection different approaches were followed using different type of filters and sample collectors. Samples of PM2.5 were collected on glass fiber filters during one month with a low volume collector. For PM10, both glass fiber and quartz filters were used and samples were collected simultaneously for one week using a high volume sampler. In addition, five bark samples of Tipa sp. (a typical tree from the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina) were collected at the same sites. The technique selected for PAHs derivatives quantification was Ultra high performance liquid chromatography?atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC?APCI-MS/MS). Data acquisition under MS/MS was achieved by applying multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) to provide a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. Chromatographic separation was performed on a rapid resolution column using a gradient mode with a total run time of 5.0 minutes. The results of the study showed that in tree barks only OPAHs were found at concentrations varying from 0.18 µg g-1 to 0.72 µg g-1. Meanwhile, in airborne particles matters, the four derivatives PAHs were detected at concentrations ranging from 0.01 ng m-3 to 24.76 ng m-3.