Determination of aromatic acids and nitrophenols in atmospheric aerosols by capillary electrophoresis

A capillary zone electrophoresis method is developed for the determination of aromatic organic acids and nitrophenols in atmospheric aerosols. The procedure is based on sampling atmospheric particulate matter on quartz fiber filters and the extraction and analysis of the extracts by capillary electrophoresis. Separation conditions are optimized by varying the pH and acetonitrile content of the electrolyte buffer. Separations in a 20% acetonitrile-20 mM borate mixture (pH 9.9) are able to resolve all of the geometric isomers of hydroxybenzoic acid, phthalic acid, benzenetricarboxylic acid, and nitrophenol as well as 1,2,4,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid, m-toluic acid, and sulfosalicylic acid. A buffer consisting of 11% acetonitrile-20 mM borate (pH 9.9) is found to be most suitable for the analysis of atmospheric aerosol samples. Detection limits are in the order of 40 to 130 ng/mL. Intersample migration time reproducibility is generally better than 1.5%, with day-to-day variations under 3%. A general extraction scheme using diethyl ether-HCl in combination with a preconcentration step is developed. Recoveries of spiked standards range from 59% to 102%, with relative standard deviations ranging from 2% to 17% for five determinations. The method is applied towards the analysis of ambient aerosol samples as well as vehicle emission studies with promising results, thus showing it to be a potential complement to already existing methodology for the analysis of organic acids and nitrophenols in atmospheric aerosols.