title: A chromatographic method to analyze products from photo-oxidation of anthropogenic and biogenic mixtures of volatile organic compounds in smog chambers.
abstract: A method for quantifying secondary organic aerosol compounds (SOA) and water soluble secondary organic aerosol compounds (WSOA) produced from photo-oxidation of complex mixtures of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in smog chambers by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has been developed. This method employs a double extraction with water and methanol jointly to a double derivatization with N,O-bis (trimethylsilil) trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) and O-(2,3,4,5,6)-pentafluorobenzyl-hydroxylamine hydrochloride (PFBHA) followed by an analysis performed by GC/MS. The analytical procedure complements other methodologies because it can analyze SOA and WSOA compounds simultaneously at trace levels. As application, the methodology was employed to quantify the organic composition of aerosols formed in a smog chamber as a result of photo-oxidation of two different mixtures of volatile organic compounds: an anthropogenic mixture and a biogenic mixture. The analytical method allowed us to quantify up to 17 SOA compounds at levels higher than 20 ng m(-3) with reasonable recovery and a precision below 11%. Values found for applicability, selectivity, linearity, precision, recovery, detection limit, quantification limit and sensitivity demonstrated that the methodology can be satisfactorily applied to quantify SOA and WSOA.
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Division, Technology Department, CIEMAT Avenida Complutense 40, 28040 Madrid, Spain. oscar.pindado@ciemat.es
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pindado Jiménez
authors.forename: Rosa M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Pérez Pastor
authors.forename: Marta G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Vivanco
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santiago Aladro
mesh_terms: D000081:Acetamides / Q000737:chemistry; D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis*; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D002138:Calibration; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006898:Hydroxylamines / Q000737:chemistry; D008027:Light; D057230:Limit of Detection; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D012905:Smog / Q000032:analysis*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D005466:Fluorocarbons
chemical_list: D000081:Acetamides; D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D006898:Hydroxylamines; D012905:Smog; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; C010277:Florox Reagent; D005466:Fluorocarbons