Abstract
Airborne dust samples collected on glass fiber filters by high volume air samplers were treated with benzene extraction and silicagel column chromatography. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) fractions were determined by hydrogen flame ionization gas chromatography with a glass capillary (G-SCOT) column. By using a computerized gas chromatography (with the same capillary column)/mass spectrometry system, 31 PAH were identified. The isomers (e. g., benzo (a) pyrene, benzo (e) pyrene and perylene) and the derivatives (e. g., methylfluoranthene and methylbenzo (ghi) fluoranthene) could be efficiently resolved on the G-SCOT column. Overall recoveries were 93.3 to 101.6% for the less volatile PAH than benzo (b) fluorene and 64.2 to 87.7% for the others. By this method, concentrations of 13 PAH in airborne dust collected in the Kitakyushu district were estimated.
