Guidelines for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in sediment.

Abstract

This Technical note provides advice on the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in total marine sediments, sieved fractions, and suspended particulate matter. The analysis of PAH compounds in sediments basically includes extraction with organic solvents, clean-up, and separation through high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet (UV) or fluorescence detection or gas chromatographic separation (GC) with flame ionization (FID) or mass spectrometric (MS) detection (Kassim & Barcelo, 2009, 1989; Wise et al., 1995). All steps of the procedure are susceptible to insufficient recovery and contamination. Quality control measures are recommended in order to regularly monitor the performance of the method. These guidelines are intended to encourage and assist analytical chemists to critically review their methods and to improve their procedures and quality assurance measures, if necessary. These guidelines are not intended as complete laboratory manual. If necessary, guidance should be sought from specialized laboratories. Laboratories should demonstrate validity of each methodological step.

Moreover, use of an alternative method, carried out concurrently to the routine procedure, is recommended for validation. Contracting parties should follow the HELCOM monitoring guideline but minor deviations from this are acceptable if the method achieves comparable results. Validation of the adopted method needs to be performed on the relevant matrix and concentration range e.g. by taking part in intercomparison studies or proficiency testing schemes.