Tenax-TA Spiking Approach of Thermal Desorption Coupled to GC–MSMS for the Quantification of PAHs in Indoor Air and Dust

Abstract

ABSTRACTA method coupling automated thermal desorption and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was developed and used for the quantification of 16 PAHs (acenaphthene, anthracene, benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[e]pyrene, benzo[g,h,i]perylene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, chrysene, dibenzo[a,h]anthracene, fluoranthene, fluorene, indeno(1, 2, 3)pyrene, naphthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene) in indoor air and dust. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in indoor air were sampled using Tenax-TA passive samplers (PAS) exposed during 14 days. Indoor dust, collected on filters using a modified vacuum cleaner head equipped with a sieving device, was first extracted using accelerated solvent extractor. The extract was then concentrated and deposed on a Tenax-TA tube prior to analysis. Using the same thermal desorption method for the analysis of two different matrices gives complementary results with good sensitivity. Limit of detection varied between 0.009 and 0.031 ng and between 0.076 and 0.22 ng/g for PAS and dust, respectively. Likewise, limit of quantification varied between 0.03 and 0.10 ng and between 0.253 and 0.733 ng/g. Results showed that indoor PAH concentrations remains constant, whereas outdoor contamination presents high variability depending on conditions.