Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polycylic aromatic sulfur heterocycles by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry detection in seawater and sediment samp

Two methods for determining 10 polycyclic aromatic compounds were developed. Both methods were based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), but one method used fluorescence detection, while the other used atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI-MS). For water analysis, solid-phase extraction (SPE) was on-line coupled to the separation system. Using a styrene–divinylbenzene copolymer (PLRP-s) as sorbent in the SPE and adding 20% of acetonitrile to the water sample before its preconcentration, recoveries were above 70% for most of the compounds. For the fluorescence method, all compounds were detected and six of them could be quantified at concentrations higher than 0.02 μg l−1. For the MS detection method, only seven of the compounds were detected and six were quantified at concentrations higher than 0.06 μg l−1. To analyse sediment samples, an extraction with dichloromethane was used and, due to the complexity of the matrix, a standard addition calibration was carried out. Seawater and sediment samples taken from the Tarragona fishing port and marina on the coast of Catalonia (Spain) were analysed, and five compounds (benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene) were quantified in the sediment samples.