Fast method to quantify PAHs in contaminated soils by direct thermodesorption using analytical pyrolysis
A method for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) quantification, based on pyrolysis at 450°C combined with gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and flame ionization detection (Py-GC-MS/FID), was developed and compared to a conventional PAH quantification method using accelerated solve...
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Published in | Talanta (Oxford) Vol. 166; pp. 241 - 248 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Netherlands
Elsevier B.V
01.05.2017
Elsevier |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | A method for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) quantification, based on pyrolysis at 450°C combined with gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and flame ionization detection (Py-GC-MS/FID), was developed and compared to a conventional PAH quantification method using accelerated solvent extraction and GC–MS analyses. The PAH contents of three coking plant soils, one gas plant soil, two wood-treating facility soils and one certified reference material (CRM - BCR 524) were determined using both methods. The results obtained with both methods showed a good match, especially in the case of the CRM. The other soil samples presented higher variability which was greatly reduced by crushing the samples to lower particle size (from <500 to <100µm). Higher contents of low molecular weight (LMW) PAHs were quantified with the Py-GC-MS/FID than with the conventional method, probably because of a slight cracking phenomenon occurring during the pyrolysis and/or a loss of the LMW compounds during the sample concentration required for the conventional method. Because of the limited sample preparation and the fact that no solvent was used, the pyrolysis-based method was proven to be a faster, less expensive and more environmentally friendly than the classical methods for PAH quantification in contaminated soils.
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•Pyrolysis at 450°C coupled to GC–MS/FID is proposed to quantify PAHs in soils.•Comparison with conventional quantification method showed good match.•Variability was minimized when decreasing the sample grain size <100µm. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0039-9140 1873-3573 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.talanta.2017.01.055 |