Abstract
For the first time, alternating trilinear decomposition-assisted multivariate curve resolution (ATLD-MCR) was applied to analyse complex gas chromatography–mass spectrometric (GC-MS) data with severe baseline drifts, serious co-elution peaks and slight retention time shifts for the simultaneous identification and quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in aerosols. It was also compared with the classic multivariate curve resolution-alternating least-squares (MCR-ALS) and the GC-MS-based external standard method. In validation samples, average recoveries of five PAHs were within the range from (96.2 ± 6.8)% to (106.5 ± 4.1)% for ATLD-MCR, near to the results of MCR-ALS ((98.0 ± 1.5)% to (106.7 ± 4.3)%). In aerosol samples, the concentrations of pyrene provided by ATLD-MCR were not significantly different from those of MCR-ALS. The other four PAHs including chrysene, benzo[a]anthracene, fluoranthene and benzo[b]fluoranthene were not detected by ATLD-MCR and the GC-MS-based external standard method. The results of figures of merit further demonstrated that ATLD-MCR achieved high sensitivities (8.9 × 104 to 1.7 × 106 mAU ml µg−1) and low limits of detection (0.003 to 0.087 µg ml−1), which were better than or similar to MCR-ALS, presenting a great choice to deal with complex GC-MS data for the simultaneous determination of targeted PAHs in aerosols.
Highlights
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are known to have biotoxicity such as carcinogenicity, mutagenicity and teratogenicity to human and organisms, are extensively distributed in atmospheric aerosols [1,2,3,4]
alternating trilinear decomposition (ATLD)-MCR was compared with the classic algorithm such as multivariate curve resolution coupled to alternating least-squares (MCR-ALS), and concentrations of PAHs in aerosol samples predicted by ATLD-MCR were confirmed by the GC-MSbased external standard method
ATLD-MCR was applied to analyse complex gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) data with severe baseline drifts, serious coelution peaks and slight retention time shifts for the first time, and it was compared with two classic methods, MCR-ALS and the GC-MS-based external standard method
Summary
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are known to have biotoxicity such as carcinogenicity, mutagenicity and teratogenicity to human and organisms, are extensively distributed in atmospheric aerosols [1,2,3,4]. GC-MS is widely applied in the identification and quantification of volatile organic pollution in actual samples [5,6,7,8] It has advantages of high sensitivity and accurate qualitative and quantitative abilities. To reduce or even eliminate these disturbing factors, a commonly used strategy is to carry out a tedious sample pretreatment, which includes the extraction, concentration, purification and complete separation of analytes of interest. This will make the researchers devote more time, money and experimental efforts to a study. ATLD-MCR was compared with the classic algorithm such as MCR-ALS, and concentrations of PAHs in aerosol samples predicted by ATLD-MCR were confirmed by the GC-MSbased external standard method
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
