Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Simultaneous Determination of 32 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Derivatives and Parent PAHs Using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry: Application in Groundwater Screening

  • Published:
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A simple, practical and precise method for the simultaneous analysis of 32 different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) including 16 parent PAHs, 8 oxygenated-PAHs (oxy-PAHs), 4 chloro-PAHs, and 4 nitrogen-containing heterocyclic PACs (N-PACs), in groundwater was established via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) combined with liquid–liquid extraction (LLE). The obtained detection method possesses instrument detection limits (at a signal to noise of 3:1) in the range of 0.05–10 ng/mL and method detection limits in the range of 1.7–13.2 ng/L. The average recoveries of the 32 analytes were in the range of 54.3%–127.0% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) < 20%, and the recoveries of 16 PAH derivatives ranged from 54.3 to 115.1% with RSDs < 17.9%. The method has been successfully applied to the screening of 64 groundwater samples from eastern China. The results revealed that 30 types of targets including 16 PAHs and 14 PAH derivatives were detected and that the groundwater in most areas is slightly polluted, while the pollution of Jiangsu Province and Shandong Province was more serious.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albinet A, Leoz-Garziandia E, Budzinski H, Villenave E, Jaffrezo JL (2008) Nitrated and oxygenated derivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the ambient air of two French alpine valleys: part 1: concentrations, sources and gas/particle partitioning. Atmos Environ 42:43–54

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bai Y, Meng W, Xu J, Zhang Y, Guo C, Lv J, Wan J (2014) Occurrence, distribution, environmental risk assessment and source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water and sediments of the Liaohe River Basin, China. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 93:744–751

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bandowe BAM, Wilcke W (2010) Analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their oxygen-containing derivatives and metabolites in SoilsAll rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including p. J Environ Qual 39:1349

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bandowe BAM, Meusel H, Huang RJ, Ho K, Cao J, Hoffmann T, Wilcke W (2014) PM 2.5 -bound oxygenated PAHs, nitro-PAHs and parent-PAHs from the atmosphere of a Chinese megacity: Seasonal variation, sources and cancer risk assessment. Sci Total Environ 473–474:77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calvar N, González B, Gómez E, Domínguez A (2007) Study of the behaviour of the azeotropic mixture ethanol–water with imidazolium-based ionic liquids. Fluid Phase Equilib 259:51–56

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cardellicchio N, Cavalli S, Ragone P (1996) Supercritical fluid extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in marine sediments and GC-MS analysis. Polycycl Aromat Compd 9:365–372

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chunfa W, Yongming L, Tong G, Yujuan H (2014) Concentrations and potential health hazards of organochlorine pesticides in (shallow) groundwater of Taihu Lake region, China. Sci Total Environ 470–471:1047–1055

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins JF, Brown JP, Alexeeff GV, Salmon AG (1998) Potency equivalency factors for some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon derivatives ☆ ☆☆. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 28:45

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Currie LA (2009) Nomenclature in evaluation of analytical methods including detection and quantification capabilities – International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 1995. Quellenangabe Pure Appl Chem 67:1699–1723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta S, Cao A, Mauer B, Yan B, Uno S, Mcelroy A (2014) Genotoxicity of oxy-PAHs to Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) embryos assessed using the comet assay. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21:13867–13876

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eklund G, Strömberg B (1983) Detection of polychlorinated polynuclear aromatics in flue gases from coal combustion and refuse incinerators. Chemosphere 12:657–660

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fan W, Shen H, Xu Y (2011) Quantification of volatile compounds in Chinese soy sauce aroma type liquor by stir bar sorptive extraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. J Sci Food Agric 91:1187–1198

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guo F, Rao Z, Zhan N, Li G, Guo X, Liu C, Yang Z, Song S, Zuo X, 2016, An automatic and sensitive method for simultaneous determination of sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and four derivatives by online solid-phase extraction coupled with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with online solvent filtration, Anal Methods 8

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hasheminasab KS, Fakhari AR, Baghdadi M (2014) Trace determination of petroleum pollutants in water samples by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction method. CLEAN 42:1106–1114

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • He C, Long Y, Pan J, Li K, Liu F (2007) Application of molecularly imprinted polymers to solid-phase extraction of analytes from real samples. J Biochem Biophys Methods 70:133–150

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee JY, Lane DA (2010) Formation of oxidized products from the reaction of gaseous phenanthrene with the OH radical in a reaction chamber. Atmos Environ 44:2469–2477

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li Z, Pittman EN, Trinidad DA, Romanoff LC, Mulholland J, Sjödin A (2010) Determination of 43 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in air particulate matter by use of direct elution and isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 396:1321–1330

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li X, Zhu R, Yang Z, Guo X, Yi H, Jing Z, Feng G, Chen L (2015) A survey of 42 semi-volatile organic contaminants in groundwater along the grand canal from Hangzhou to Beijing, East China. Int J Environ Res Public Health 12:16070–16081

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lintelmann J, Fischer K, Karg E, Schroppel A (2005) Determination of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in aerosol samples by high-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 381:508–519

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu SJ, Xu HN, Feng K, Wang Y (2013) Consolidated GC-MS/MS analysis of PAHs in gasoline combustion dust. Applied Mechanics Materials 448–453:337–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loos R, Carvalho R, António DC, Comero S, Locoro G, Tavazzi S, Paracchini B, Ghiani M, Lettieri T, Blaha L (2013) EU-wide monitoring survey on emerging polar organic contaminants in wastewater treatment plant effluents. Water Res 47:6475–6487

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lundstedt S, Bandowe BAM, Wilcke W, Boll E, Christensen JH, Vila J, Grifoll M, Faure P, Biache C, Lorgeoux C (2014) First intercomparison study on the analysis of oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (oxy-PAHs) and nitrogen heterocyclic polycyclic aromatic compounds (N-PACs) in contaminated soil. Trac Trends Anal Chem 57:83–92

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mannino MR, Orecchio S (2008) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in indoor dust matter of Palermo (Italy) area: extraction, GC–MS analysis, distribution and sources. Atmos Environ 42:1801–1817

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martin AJ, Synge RL (1941) Separation of the higher monoamino-acids by counter-current liquid-liquid extraction: the amino-acid composition of wool. Biochem J 35:91

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mundt M, Hollender J (2005) Simultaneous determination of NSO-heterocycles, homocycles and their metabolites in groundwater of tar oil contaminated sites using LC with diode array UV and fluorescence detection. J Chromatogr A 1065:211–218

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Qiao M, Qi W, Liu H, Qu J (2013) Simultaneous determination of typical substituted and parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water and solid matrix by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A 1291:129–136

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rao Z, Li S, He M, Su J (2007) Determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence and ultraviolet detection. Chin J Anal Chem 35:954–958

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • USGS (2010) http://ny.water.usgs.gov/projects/manugasplants/

  • Večeřa Z, Bartošíková A, Sklenská J, Mikuška P (2005) A large volume injection procedure for GC-MS determination of PAHs and PCBs. Chromatographia 61:197–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wen DG, Lin LJ, Sun JC, Zhang ZJ, Jiang YH, Nian-Jun YE, Fei YH, Yong Q, Gong JS, Xun Z (2012) Groundwater quality and contamination assessment in the main plains of Eastern China. Earth Sci 37:220–228

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcke W, Bandowe BA, Lueso MG, Ruppenthal M, Del VH, Oelmann Y (2014) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their polar derivatives (oxygenated PAHs, azaarenes) in soils along a climosequence in Argentina. Science of the Total Environment 473–474:317

  • Yamada TM, Souza DA, Morais CR, Mozeto AA (2009) Validation of a method for the analysis of PAHs in bulk lake sediments using GC-MS. J Chromatographic Sci 47:794–799

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhan N, Guo F, Tian Q, Yang ZP, Rao Z (2018) Screening and quantification of organic pollutants in soil using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Analytical Lett 51(7):955–970

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Geological Survey Project of China (Nos. DD20160312, 121201105000182401, DD20189627).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Center for Geoanalysis, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100037, China

    Tao Zhu, Zhu Rao, Feng Guo & Nan Zhan

  2. Key Laboratory of Ecological Geochemistry, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing, 100037, China

    Tao Zhu, Zhu Rao, Feng Guo & Nan Zhan

  3. School of Chemistry, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052, Australia

    Yuan Wang

  4. Laboratory of Advanced Catalysis for Sustainability, School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 2006, Australia

    Hamidreza Arandiyan

  5. China Building Material Test & Certification Group Co., Ltd., Beijing, 100024, China

    Xiao-jie Li

Authors
  1. Tao Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zhu Rao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Feng Guo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nan Zhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yuan Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hamidreza Arandiyan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Xiao-jie Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhu Rao or Hamidreza Arandiyan.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 380 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhu, T., Rao, Z., Guo, F. et al. Simultaneous Determination of 32 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Derivatives and Parent PAHs Using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry: Application in Groundwater Screening. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 101, 664–671 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-018-2462-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-018-2462-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation