PARENT SESSION

1A - Environmental analytical methods
Poster Hall
8:30 AM - Monday, 28 April 2003
Chair: Schäffer, A.¹, ¹
Co-chair: Bester, K.², ²

(MOP/9) Monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their hydroxylated metabolities by SPE-HPLC in environmental samples.

Busetti, Francesco¹, Pojana, Giulio¹, Marcomini, Antonio¹, Traverso, Pietro ¹, Cuomo, Mario², Badoer, Sandro², ¹ Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Venice, Venice, Italy² VESTA S.p.A., Venice, Italy

ABSTRACT- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are included in many priority pollutants lists. They are ubiquitous pollutants in our environment, and some PAHs are known or suspected carcinogens and/or mutagens. They are multisource recalcitrant, hydrophobic compounds. There are some natural sources, such as forest fires and volcanoes, but PAHs arise mainly from combustion-related or oil-related anthropic sources. Recently, some PAHs (Acenaphthene, Benzo[a]Anthracene, Benzo[a] Pyrene) and hydroxylated PAHs (e.g. 6-hydroxychrysene) have been shown, from in vitro/ in vivo experiments, to act against the hormone receptor and to exhibit anti-estrogenic effects. PAHs are removed from municipal/industrial sewage treatment plants (STP) mainly by absorption to solids, either during primary sedimentation and during the activated sludge treatment. A new analytical procedure has been developed for the determination of 16 PAHs of concern for EPA and their hydroxylated metabolites in environmental aqueous samples (wastewaters, STP, final effluents, river waters, salt waters) and solids (suspended solids, sludges, sediments) after solid-phase-extraction (SPE) followed by HPLC coupled with UV-DAD, fluorescence and MS detection. The proposed method has been applied to the determination of the titled compounds in aqueous and solid samples from the mechanical-biological STP of Fusina (Venice, Italy), which receiving both municipal and industrial wastewaters (especially those from the Porto Marghera industrial district) and discharging the final effluent in the Venice lagoon, a fragile coastal sea water ecosystem. The method permitted to evaluate the removal efficiency of the plant and the residues, typically in the concentration range of 10-300 ng/L in the final effluent.

Key words: Hydroxylated PAHs, PAHs, SPE-HPLC, Biodegradation