Ubiquitous is a word highly associated with Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (PACs).  We consume them when we eat grilled foods, we breathe them from vehicle exhaust and while enjoying a campfire and they can penetrate through our skin through PAC-containing materials that land on our largest organ. Many governments have set regulations to protect people from the possible health effects by setting limits for individual PACs based on body weight.  Within these limits, everyday exposures are not considered harmful.  In the occupational setting, however, workers can be exposed to higher concentrations that may lead to health effects as some are known to be highly carcinogenic. This study discusses the difficulties in determining PACs in a complex matrix such as asphalt and evaluates ways to improve recovery and optimize detection to be able to meet industry's regulatory needs.  In 2010, the US EPA Emergency Planning and Community Right-to Know Act (EPCRA) section 313 added four nitrogen-containing PACs to their list of persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic (PBT) chemicals, increasing the list to 25 PACs that require investigation. Europe has a regulatory program called Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances (REACH); asphalt is registered within the REACH program such that the concentrations of eight individual PACs must be determined.  In order to comply, the sum of these eight PAC concentrations must not exceed 10 ppm and the level of benzo[a]pyrene must be below 1 ppm.A liquid-liquid micro-extraction, based on modifications of British Standards Method BS 2000-346 is employed to extract these PACs from eight asphalt samples.  Gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry with deconvolution software is used to determine the concentrations of PACs at the required regulatory limits.  Results for these eight asphalts and all recoveries of spiked samples are reported.

Determination of polycyclic aromatic compounds in asphalt using optimized methodology

246th National Meeting (2013)

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