Simultaneous determination of forty-two parent and halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using solid-phase extraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in drinking water

The coexistence of parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PPAHs) and halogenated PAHs (HPAHs) in drinking water has generated much concern recently. However, a method to simultaneously determine these compounds has not been developed. In this study, a method using solid-phase extraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for determination of PPAHs and HPAHs in drinking water was established. Forty-two target compounds including 16 PPAHs and 26 HPAHs (16 chlorinated PAHs (CI-HPAHs) and 10 brominated PAHs (Br-PAHs)) were selected to evaluate the performance. Our results indicate enriching compounds with a LC18 cartridge and eluting with dichloromethane is optimal with recovery of 74.88-119.4%. Method detection limits ranged from 0.34 to 3.37 ng L-1 when only using 1 L samples. The method accomplished the analysis of trace PPAHs and HPAHs. We found the coexistence of PPAHs and HPAHs including 12 PPAHs, 2 CI-PAHs and 3 Br-PAHs in tap water samples. Maximum total concentration of PPAHs and HPAHs reached 33.69 ng L-1 and 3.04 ng L-1, respectively. Trace Br-PAHs were first detected in drinking water. 6-bromobenzene[a]pyrene was dominated among the HPAHs with a concentration from 2.30 to 2.69 ng L-1. The simultaneous occurrence of PPAHs and HPAHs in drinking water should receive more attention, and their formation mechanism should be further explored.