Evaluation of Behavioral Differences between Native Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and ¹³C-Labeled Internal Standards during Clean-up Steps of Analysis

Abstract

We confirmed that concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) obtained by isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) using the corresponding ¹³C-labeled internal standards are reliable even after clean-up steps. Change in the ratio of phenanthrene to ¹³C₆-phenanthrene was less than 0.2%, although the recovery yield of ¹³C₆-phenanthrene decreased to 60%. Since changes in the ratios were commonly within the relative standard deviations of the concentrations (1.5 - 5.4%) obtained using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in combination with pressurized-liquid extraction, concentrations obtained by IDMS with ¹³C-PAHs should be reliable.