Page 47 - Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2008

Hellenic Plant Protection Journal

1:

99-105, 2008

Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water

by GC/MS/MS

K. Liapis

1

, E. Bempelou

1

and P. Aplada-Sarlis

1

Summary

In the present study the development and validation of an analytical method for the

determination of 8 compounds of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons group [naphthalene, flu-

oranthene, anthracene, benzo [b] fluoranthene, benzo [a] pyrene, benzo [k] fluoranthene, ben-

zo [g,h,i] perylene and indeno [1,2,3-cd] pyrene] by GC/MS/MS was carried out in water samples.

The method was applied to ground waters from Greece. The method was validated in three for-

tification levels and the observed evaluation parameters were found to be acceptable. The limit

of quantification was equal to the lowest level of fortification (LOQ: 0.05 μg/l) indicating that the

method has adequate sensitivity for monitoring purposes.

Additional keywords

: analytical method, gas-chromatography, PAHs, tandem mass spectrometry

This fact makes necessary the develop-

ment of analytical methods for the deter-

mination of these pollutants in environ-

mental substrates as well as in products

of plant and animal origin involved in hu-

man diet.

In the environment, PAHs can be de-

tected in air, water and soil, while they

have also been found in areas far away

from their possible source of emission (1,

6, 7, 9). In natural waters they are often de-

tected in sediment and biota, because of

their low polarity, where carciginogenesis

or metallaxigenesis have been observed.

PAHs are rapidly metabolized in fish but

not in invertebrates (1).

Published results of PAHs have been

mainly determined by gas chromatogra-

phy coupled with mass spectrometry. Ac-

cording to the official method of the En-

vironmental Protection Agency, PAHs are

determined in potable water by GC/MS

using internal standard, the limit of quan-

tification being equal to 0.2 μg/l (5).

Shackelford and McGuire have also

used the GC/MS technique for the deter-

mination of priority pollutants, including

Introduction

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)

are organic compounds with 2-10 aromatic

rings, readily formed during many pyroly-

sis and incomplete combustion processes

of organic materials. Potential sources of

PAHs are vehicle exhaust emissions from

gasoline and diesel engines, combustions

of timber, coal, oil, gas andwood, industrial

activity etc. (2). Some PAHs have been clas-

sified as priority pollutants (4). This classi-

fication has been set by both the Environ-

mental Protection Agency (EPA) of U.S.A.

and the European Union. Sixteen of these

substances are of interest for their action

in the environment, while 6 of them have

been characterized as potentially carcino-

genic compounds: benzo [a] anthracene,

benzo [b] fluoranthene, benzo [k] fluoran-

thene, benzo [a] pyrene, dibenzo [ah] an-

thracene and indeno [1,2,3-cd] pyrene (1).

1

Laboratory of Pesticide Residues, Department of

Pesticides Control and Phytopharmacy, Benaki Phy-

topathological Institute, 8 St. Delta str., GR-145 61 Ki-

fissia (Athens), Greece.

Corresponding author:

E.Bempelou@bpi.gr