PARAFAC and MCR-ALS applied to the quantitative monitoring of the photodegradation process of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using three-dimensional excitation emission fluorescent spectra: Comparative results with HPLC

Two methods were developed for the simultaneous quantitative monitoring of photodegradation process of dibenz[a,h]anthracene (DibA), benz[a]anthracene (BaA), benz[a]pyrene (BaP) and benz[k]fluorantene (BkF) using excitation–emission fluorescence spectroscopy. Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) were satisfactory applied to the data obtained during this process. The results achieved were statistically compared by means of the joint interval test of slope and intercept, with the data obtained using the reference methodology, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. There are not significant differences between the methodologies proposed and the standard one, and may be a good alternative to the traditional methods of analysis for monitoring the degradation of these pollutants.