Analytical Method of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Petroleum Contaminated Soils - Focused on the 16 US EPA Priority PAHs

In case of analyzing PAHs (EPA 16 compounds) in oil-contaminated soils, the lump of peaks may occur because of the aliphatic and polar compounds in oil. This phenomenon is due to the lower accuracy of the analysis. To solve this problem, evaluation of application of silicagel-alumina multi-layer fraction was performed using standard substances and oil-contaminated soils. As a result of application of silicagel-alumina multi-layer fraction cleanup method using standard substances, recovery rates of surrogate standards (5 compounds including Naphthalene-d8) were 83~100% and those of target standards were 75~129%. These were to meet the target values (60~130%) in this study. When used 4% water-silicagel column analyze PAHs in oil-contaminated soils, Some problems were generated for quantitative analysis of PAHs; concentration of PAHs was underestimated due to an upward baseline of internal standard (recovery rate: less than 60%) and overestimated by the lump of peaks which were not purified (the biggest recovery rate: more than 400%). On the other hand, in case of silicagel-alumina multi-layer fraction cleanup method, recovery rate of surrogate standards were 61~101.6%. Therefore this cleanup method was considered a valid method to improve accuracy of analysis of PAHs in oil-contaminated soils.