Low-pressure gas chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry for the fast determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in air samples.
A low-pressure gas chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry (LPGC-ITMS) method was investigated to shorten the analysis time for 18 US Environmental Protection Agency priority listed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Their elution was optimised with a short, wide-bore column coupled to a deactivated capillary at the inlet end and with a long, conventional column to compare their analytical performance. The analytical figures of merit under optimal LPGC-ITMS conditions were determined with respect to chromatographic separation, S/N ratio, limit of detection and precision. The peak width at half height of 1.5s matched the ITMS duty cycle. Up to 16 PAHs in the molecular weight (MW) range of 128-278 Da could be separated in a very short time, i.e. less than 13 min using LPGC-ITMS, whereas with conventional GC-MS, it took approximately 40 min. However, LPGC-ITMS has a limited loss of separation power compared to that of conventional GC-MS due to the occurrence of three critical pairs for high-MW PAHs. For a practical evaluation, the LPGC-ITMS approach was applied to the determination of PAHs in gas and aerosol phase samples collected in the ambient air of Hasselt, Belgium.
Ravindra
Khaiwal
K
Micro and Trace Analysis Center, Department of Chemistry, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium. Khaiwal.Ravindra@ua.ac.be
Godoi
Ana F L
AF
Bencs
László
L
Van Grieken
René
R
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D011312:Pressure
D000393:Air Pollutants; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons