S.O.P. No. MLD 028 - Determination of Selected Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons
                                      (PAH) in Ambient

SCOPE

This document describes the procedures followed by the Monitoring and Laboratory Division (MLD) staff for the determination of selected polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH): benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), benzo(b)fluoranthene (BbF), benzo(k)fluoranthene (BkF), dibenz[a,h]anthracene (DA), benzo[ghi]perylene (BP), and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (IP) in the ambient air samples utilizing a portion of PM10 filters.

SUMMARY OF METHOD

Atmospheric suspended particulate matter is collected over a 24-hour period on a (8x10 inch) quartz fiber filter of a size selective inlet high volume sampler. The PAHs are extracted from a (2x5 inch) strip of the filter using 10% acetonitrile in dichloromethane solvent with sonication. The extract is injected into a High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) system and identified and quantified by reference to an external standard with the use of fluorescence detection.