I. Quantitative analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in airborne particulates. II. Semiquantitative determination of organic material in woodsmoke

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:5819444

Barefoot, III, A C

The development of analytical methods for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in airborne particulates is described. Characteristics of the methods includes comparison of Soxhlet and ultrasonic extractions with several solvents, determination of recoveries for selected PAH, reproducibility of analytical procedures, and comparison of fused silica capillary gas chromatographic and high performance liquid chromatographic separations. Gas chromatography using on-column injections into capillary columns is shown to be as reproducible as high performance liquid chromatography. Quantitative results for the two techniques show good agreement. Analysis of samples collected during the winter in areas where wood is a major fuel gave concentrations of thirteen PAH. Benz(a)pyrene concentrations ranged from 0.28-5.3 ng/m/sup 3/. Evaporative losses of PAH during high volume air sampling are confirmed. Justification for the use of the benz(a)pyrene as an index for PAH concentrations in air is shown. Semiquantitative analysis of woodsmoke using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry reveals several types of compounds including phenols, carbohydrates (notably levoglucosan), aliphatic hydrocarbons and polycyclic organic material.

• Research Organization: Dartmouth Coll., Hanover, NH (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5819444
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400102* -- Chemical & Spectral Procedures
400104 -- Spectral Procedures-- (-1987)
400105 -- Separation Procedures
AEROSOLS
AIR
AROMATICS
CAPILLARY FLOW
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
COLLOIDS
DATA
DISPERSIONS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
EXTRACTION
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
GASES
HYDROCARBONS
INFORMATION
LIQUID COLUMN CHROMATOGRAPHY
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PARTICLES
PARTICULATES
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RESIDUES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SMOKES
SOLS
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
SOLVENTS
SPECTROSCOPY
WOOD