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

IF 8.1 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Chemosphere Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-12 DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2026.144865

Laura Solé-Domènech , Laura Vallecillos , Alexandre Fabregat , Francesc Borrull

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Abstract

Particulate matter (PM) is a key component of air pollution, not only because of its own effects on human health but also because of certain semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) which can be carried on its surface, such as benzothiazoles, phthalate esters (PAEs), ultraviolet stabilizers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Developing analytical methods for the determination of these compounds on PM samples is essential, especially in the light of current trends in the analytical processes such as automation and green chemistry. In this study, a method based on thermal desorption coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) was developed and validated for the determination of 17 high production volume chemicals (HPVCs) and 13 PAHs at pg m⁻³ levels and evaluated using AGREEprep, with an overall score of 0.68.

The method was applied to PM₁₀ air samples collected from the Port of Tarragona. The most representative target compounds were PAEs, accounting for 72% of the total and with the widest concentration ranges. Out of them, diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) was the most prevalent compound, with concentrations between 2647 pg m⁻³ and 5298 pg m⁻³. The family of PAHs accounted for 17% of the total with a mean value of 9823 pg m⁻³. Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), which is regulated to a maximum annual average concentration of 1000 pg m⁻³ in PM₁₀ by the European Directive , 2024/2881, was not detected in any of the samples analysed; hence, its concentration was below the regulatory limit.

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热解吸作为一种环境友好的替代方法，可用于测定颗粒物质中的高产量化学品和多环芳烃

颗粒物（PM）是空气污染的一个关键组成部分，不仅因为它本身对人类健康的影响，而且还因为某些半挥发性有机化合物（SVOCs）可以携带在其表面，如苯并噻唑、邻苯二甲酸酯（PAEs）、紫外线稳定剂和多环芳烃（PAHs）。开发PM样品上这些化合物的分析方法至关重要，特别是考虑到当前分析过程的趋势，如自动化和绿色化学。本研究建立了一种基于热解吸-气相色谱-质谱联用（tg - gc - ms）的方法，并对该方法进行了验证，用于测定17种高产化学物质（HPVCs）和13种PAHs （pg m−3）水平，并使用AGREEprep进行了评估，总体得分为0.68。将该方法应用于塔拉戈纳港的PM10空气样本。最具代表性的目标化合物是PAEs，占总数的72%，浓度范围最广。其中，邻苯二甲酸二乙基己酯（DEHP）是最普遍的化合物，浓度在2647 pg m−3和5298 pg m−3之间。多环芳烃族占总数的17%，平均值为9823 pg m−3。在分析的任何样品中均未检测到苯并(a)芘（BaP），该物质在PM10中的最大年平均浓度被欧洲指令2024/2881规定为1000 pg m−3；因此，其浓度低于规定限值。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Chemosphere 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

15.80

自引率

8.00%

发文量

4975

审稿时长

3.4 months

期刊介绍： Chemosphere, being an international multidisciplinary journal, is dedicated to publishing original communications and review articles on chemicals in the environment. The scope covers a wide range of topics, including the identification, quantification, behavior, fate, toxicology, treatment, and remediation of chemicals in the bio-, hydro-, litho-, and atmosphere, ensuring the broad dissemination of research in this field.