Application of thermal desorption for measuring PAHs on PM2.5

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2021-12, Vol.28 (48), p.69210-69220
• Main Authors: Hsu, Yuan Cheng, Hsu, Yen Chen, Chang, Moo Been
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Coal-fired power plants; Desorption; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Efficiency; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Health hazards; Industrial areas; Laboratories; Lung cancer; Lung diseases; Methods; Outdoor air quality; Particulate matter; Pollutants; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Pretreatment; Research Article; Respiratory diseases; Solvents; Suburban areas; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-15200-x

PM 2.5 and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emitted from various sources may cause respiratory disease and lung cancer. Additionally, PAHs deposited on PM 2.5 would aggravate the hazard to human health once inhaled. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the PAHs adsorbed on PM 2.5 in ambient air. However, analysis of PAHs on PM 2.5 is limited so far due to high detection limit of the analytical method and complex pretreatment procedures of the sample. In this study, thermal desorption (TD) is combined with GC–HRMS for direct analysis of PAHs on PM 2.5 collected by the filter without pretreatment. The results indicate that distribution of PAHs on the filter is uniform and each filter section is representative for direct analysis of PAHs on PM 2.5 . The optimal thermal desorption temperature and purge time of analysis are found at 320°C and 60 s, respectively. Furthermore, the PAHs on PM 2.5 of ambient air in Taiwan including traffic area, industrial area, suburban area, and background site are investigated. The results indicate that the concentrations of PAHs on PM 2.5 in ambient air of Northern, Central, and Eastern Taiwan are in the range of 0.13–6.63 ng/m 3 , with an average concentration of 2.23 ng/m 3 . The PAH concentration measured in winter is significantly higher than that in summer, and the concentration of PAHs on PM 2.5 ranges from 0.071 to 0.280 ng/μg while the average concentration is 0.133 ng/μg. The technology optimized in this study can be applied for rapid and accurate measurement of PAHs present on fine particles.