1981 Volume 3 Issue 4 Pages 403-410
An analytical method of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was investigated. PAH was separated by HPLC with UV and fluorescence detectors, using LiChrosorb RP 18 for column and acetonitril-water (9:1, v/v) as the mobile phase. In HPLC, the retention time of PAH decreased with the rise of the column temperature and flow rate. There was a linear relationship between the logarithm of the retention time and the reciprocal of absolute temperature of the column. Linear relationship was observed among the carbon numbers of PAH and/or numbers of double bond of PAH and the logarithms of their retention times. The detection limits (S/N=2) of the PAH were 0.1-0.52 ng by the UV detector and 4-55 pg by the fluorescence detector. An analytical method of a single component in a multicomponent of PAH was studied. Therefore, seven PAH were determined by careful selection of excitation and fluorescence wavelengths. This method was applied to the analysis of PAH in air-born particulate and eleven PAH were identified. Five PAH were determined by HPLC with the fluorescence detector. They were benzo (a) pyrene, benzo (k) fluoranthene, perylene, chrysene and coronene. The results suggest that HPLC with the fluorescence detector is useful for analysis of PAH in environmental material.
