Optimization of a thermal desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry method for characterization of semi-volatile organic compounds in high time resolved PM2.5

Abstract Organic aerosol (OA) is an important fraction of fine particulate matter. Most primary OA emissions comprise semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) that are reactive and may partition into particle and vapor phases. Collection of SVOCs in the particle phase at high time resolution reduces positive and negative artifacts, but requires sensitive analytical techniques for chemical characterization. In this work, we investigated the effect of thermal desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) analytical variables on 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and 29 n-alkanes. Analytical responses of target compounds were mostly influenced by trap desorption time and GC column pressure. The optimal TD-GC-MS trap desorption conditions were 350 °C for 10 min at GC constant pressure mode of 17 psi. Good linearity (R2 > 0.99) was observed for all target analytes (with the exception of 6 ring PAHs and C35–C39 n-alkanes). Method detection limits were 0.038–0.157 ng m−3 and 0.028–0.355 ng m−3 for PAHs and n-alkanes, respectively. The optimized method was tested on PM2.5 samples collected with the high-volume sampling technique at high temporal resolution of 2 h. Analysis of a sample, followed by analysis of a blank, did not show carryover. The optimized TD-GC-MS method showed the capability to resolve diurnal variations of target analytes in high time resolved PM2.5. Using TD-GC-MS for analysis of high time resolved PM2.5 will contribute to the improvement of source apportionment, emission inventories, and global chemistry-climate models.

• Publication year

  2020

• Venue

  Atmospheric Pollution Research

• Publication date

  2020-03-01

• Fields of study

  Chemistry, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.apr.2019.12.016
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Chemistry of Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere

  2020cited by this paper
• Determination of n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and hopanes in atmospheric aerosol: evaluation and comparison of thermal desorption GC-MS and solvent extraction GC-MS approaches

  2019cited by this paper
• Optimization and evaluation of multi-bed adsorbent tube method in collection of volatile organic compounds

  2018cited by this paper
• Air Pollution and Climate Change Effects on Allergies in the Anthropocene: Abundance, Interaction, and Modification of Allergens and Adjuvants

  2017cited by this paper
• Global combustion sources of organic aerosols: model comparison with 84 AMS factor-analysis data sets

  2016cited by this paper
• Microscale spatial distribution and health assessment of PM2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at nine communities in Xi'an, China.

  2016cited by this paper
• How will SOA change in the future?

  2016cited by this paper
• Diurnal variation of particle-bound PAHs in an urban area of Spain using TD-GC/MS: Influence of meteorological parameters and emission sources

  2016cited by this paper
• Evaluation of multistep derivatization methods for identification and quantification of oxygenated species in organic aerosol.

  2015cited by this paper
• Using multidimensional gas chromatography to group secondary organic aerosol species by functionality

  2014cited by this paper
• Composition and Integrity of PAHs, Nitro-PAHs, Hopanes, and Steranes in Diesel Exhaust Particulate Matter

  2013cited by this paper
• Sources of organic aerosol investigated using organic compounds as tracers measured during CalNex in Bakersfield

  2013cited by this paper
• Characteristics of fine particulate non-polar organic compounds in Guangzhou during the 16th Asian Games: Effectiveness of air pollution controls

  2013cited by this paper
• Volatile organic compounds in suburban Ankara atmosphere, Turkey: Sources and variability

  2013cited by this paper
• SVOC exposure indoors: fresh look at dermal pathways.

  2012cited by this paper
• Analysis of semi-volatile organic compounds in indoor suspended particulate matter by thermal desorption coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

  2012cited by this paper
• Thermal desorption - comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for determination of trace polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their derivatives.

  2012cited by this paper
• Thermal Desorption Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography: An Improved Instrument for In-Situ Speciated Measurements of Organic Aerosols

  2012cited by this paper
• A comparison of direct thermal desorption with solvent extraction for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of semivolatile organic compounds in diesel particulate matter

  2010cited by this paper
• Major components of atmospheric organic aerosol in southern California as determined by hourly measurements of source marker compounds

  2010cited by this paper
• Evolution of Organic Aerosols in the Atmosphere

  2009cited by this paper
• Thermal desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry as an enhanced method for the quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from ambient air particulate matter.

  2009cited by this paper
• Analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in airborne particles by direct sample introduction thermal desorption GC/MS

  2008cited by this paper
• Improved accuracy in the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in air using 24 h sampling on a mixed bed followed by thermal desorption capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

  2008cited by this paper
• An In-Situ Instrument for Speciated Organic Composition of Atmospheric Aerosols: Thermal Desorption Aerosol GC/MS-FID (TAG)

  2006cited by this paper
• Organic Pollutants in Airborne Particulates of Algiers City Area

  2005cited by this paper
• Primary and secondary carbonaceous species in the atmosphere of Western Riverside County, California

  2004cited by this paper
• Encyclopaedia of occupational health and safety

  1998cited by this paper

• Thermal desorption as an environmentally sound alternative for the determination of high production volume chemicals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in particulate matter.

  2026cites this paper
• Chemical compounds in PM10 as a tool for source apportionment

  2025cites this paper
• Measuring aliphatic hydrocarbons in sediments by direct thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry: Matrix effects and quantification challenges.

  2024cites this paper
• Optimization of Two-Stage Thermal Desorption Combined with Pentafluorophenyl Hydrazine Derivatization-Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Analytical Method of Atmospheric Carbonyl Compounds

  2023cites this paper
• Evaluating emission sources of ambient PM_2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their potential health risks for residents at an urban location in Northern Taiwan

  2023cites this paper
• Comparison of generic tenax and specialized PAH tubes for monitoring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the ambient air

  2023cites this paper
• Application of Direct Thermal Desorption–Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry for Determination of Volatile and Semi-Volatile Organosulfur Compounds in Onions: A Novel Analytical Approach

  2023cites this paper
• Investigation of partition coefficients and fingerprints of atmospheric gas- and particle-phase intermediate volatility and semi-volatile organic compounds using pixel-based approaches.

  2022cites this paper
• Distribution and sources of SVOCs in fine and coarse aerosols in the megacity of Istanbul

  2022cites this paper