Determination of oxygenated and nitro-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by HPLC and electrochemical detection.

A method is described for the measurement of oxy- and nitro-substituted polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (OXY- and NITRO-PAHs) using high performance liquid chromatography with reductive electrochemical detection. A series of reference OXY- and NITRO-PAHs were separated in a reversed-phase column, conditions for electrochemical detection were established and the compounds were quantified with a sensitivity of 3-0.3 ng injected. Samples of air particulate matter were collected for the analysis of these PAH derivatives and the presence of 9,10-anthraquinone, benz[a]anthracen-7, 12-dione at levels of between 75 and 398 pg/m(3) in the air samples has been confirmed.