Qualitative analysis of organics in atmospheric particulates by headspace solid phase microextraction-GC/MS

A large number of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds from atmospheric particulates (PM10) have been identified. We have developed and optimised the use of headspace solid phase microextraction as a sample concentration method for the analysis of organics in PM10 using GC/MS. Headspace organics were found to be produced in maximum abundance on heating the particulate samples at 100 °C for 30 min. The most useful sample cooling and headspace extraction times using a PDMS 100 μm fibre were found to be 7 and 10 min, respectively. The boiling points of the extracted organics ranged from 40 to 391 °C and were found to be normally distributed. However, most of the organics (66%) were found to have their boiling point range between 140 and 240 °C. Vapour pressure of the organics ranged from 0.0002 to 10.13 kPa, but 82% were found to be within the range of 0.05–1.0 kPa. Similarly, carbon number varied from C2–C24, with 68% of the total number of 86 organics detected being C8–C13.