Development and Application of Comprehensive Chemical Analytical Methods for the Analysis of Polyaromatic Compounds

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and numerous related polyaromatic compounds (PACs), like substituted PAHs or heterocyclic polyaromatics, are a widespread class of organic compounds originating from natural and anthropogenic sources. During the last century the impact of anthropogenic sources on the emission of PACs has been growing substantially. Nowadays, a rising number of man-made chemicals and unintentionally produced compounds enter the environment. Identification of potentially harmful compounds poses a serious challenge because environmental samples are very complex. Additionally, the „chemical picture” of our environment is changing rapidly. Analysis of complex environmental samples with a rich matrix requires efficient and robust extraction, clean-up and/or fractionation procedures followed by gas- or liquid chromatographic analysis. Gas chromatography in combination with mass spectrometry was the method of choice in my research. The study presented here focuses on the developments in the environmental analysis of PACs with the emphasis on the contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), whereas the standard analysis of PAHs still concentrates on the set of so called 16 EPA PAHs, set in 1976. My research concentrated on the analysis of PACs in complex matrices like sediment and recycled rubber. The developed methods combine target analysis, based on a predefined list of analytes, and screening analysis, aiming at the identification of unrecognized or novel contaminants. These procedures allowed to isolate, identify and quantify a suite of non-priority pollutants, predominantly PACs, present as complex mixtures. The compounds positively identified (with injection of standards) or tentatively identified (with library search) included inter alia a variety of alkylated PAHs, NSO-heterocycles, NSO-substituted PAHs, halogenated-PAHs, and others. Environmental samples, like polluted sediments, contain thousands of compounds that cannot be chromatographically r