Unprecedented Insights into the Chemical Complexity of Coal Tar from Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry and Direct Infusion Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Coal tar and its distilled products (e.g., creosote) are commonly applied wood preservatives and asphalt sealants that have been identified as significant sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to the environment. Despite predictions that coal tar is composed of hundreds of compounds, few studies have ventured beyond measuring select PAHs with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Expanding the target analyte list will improve our capacity to gauge the inputs and impacts of organic compounds released from coal tar and its products into the environment. Employing a complementary approach with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC × GC) and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS), we analyzed residues suspected to be coal tar or creosote collected from beaches along coastal Texas in 2014. Over 3000 peaks were observed by GC × GC (compared to the 250 peaks found by our GC-MS analysis) in the whole extract of the samples. To remove PAHs and fo...