Page 52 - Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2008

Liapis et al. 104
did not present intense fragmentation, as
it can be seen in Figure 2, and therefore
the molecular ion was the one used for
quantification purposes. These quantifica-
tion ions are presented in Table 1 in bold.
In this Table, the retention time of each
analyte is also provided, as well as the col-
lision energy used for the fragmentation
of the precursor ions.
Quantification and confirmation of re-
sults by monitoring further reaction prod-
ucts of selected ions by tandem mass
spectrometry (MS/MS using triple quadro-
pole systems) offers a greater confind-
ence of results, compared to MS in a single
stage, according to principles on analyti-
cal chemistry by adding one more step in
the total analytical procedure.
As far as benzo [a] pyrene is concerned,
the analytical method was validated in the
fortification level of 0.05 μg/l, while the
maximum acceptable limit is 5 times low-
er. In our next research work, we are go-
ing to focus to this compound in order to
achieve a LOQ at the required maximum
acceptable limit.
The suitability of the present analyti-
cal method for the determination of PAHs
in ground water samples was proved from
the successful participation of our labora-
tory in the proficiency test “IMEP-23: the
eight WFD PAHs in water in presence of
humic acid”, organized by the Institute for
Reference Materials and Measurements
(IRMM) within the Scheme of Internation-
al Measurement Evaluation Programme
(IMEP). The test material of this interlabo-
ratory comparison was ground water.
The described method was further
used for the analysis of ground water sam-
ples from the regions of Volos (Magnesia)
and Rodos in Greece. A total of 15 samples
were analysed and no PAHs were detect-
ed in any sample.
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Received: 2 June 2008; Accepted: 18 July 2008