A UV-VIS spectrophotometer has only limited application: you can use it if you can clearly distinguish between (pure!!!) PAHs based on their complete UV-spectra. If there are mixtures (as it is common in environmental samples), or other absorbing compounds (impurities) present, you have to use HPLC-UV/VIS or -DAD, or GC-FID or GC-MSD.

You can request following method, ask from this mail

Publications Office | Bureau des publications

Health Canada | Santé Canada

Ottawa, Canada K1A 0K9

[email protected]

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LPFC-149-Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in foods by HPLC with fluorescence detection

A UV-VIS spectrophotometer has only limited application: you can use it if you can clearly distinguish between (pure!!!) PAHs based on their complete UV-spectra. If there are mixtures (as it is common in environmental samples), or other absorbing compounds (impurities) present, you have to use HPLC-UV/VIS or -DAD, or GC-FID or GC-MSD.

Your samples appear to be soil (sediments) or water sediments. Contaminated sediments present issues. As said above, HPLC works. Analytical methods for such hydrophobic organic compounds present in sediments/soils are generally intensely laborious, followed by expensive GC/MS. We have used the HPLC method at the Great Lakes Research Center's Environmental Toxicology Unit, Buffalo, New York, for sample mixtures. A much simpler method, as compared with a standardized UV spectrophotometric method, utilizes UV fluorescence and a standard filter fluorometer for estimating total PAHs; a strong correlation of fluorescence with GC/MS measured total PAHs.

Can anyone please provide me with some articles about determination of Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil, water, and food by HPLC-UV? Thanks alot