Sorption effects interfering with the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in aqueous samples

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are severe environmental pollutants that are analyzed frequently. The risk assessment of PAH impact to groundwater can be performed using leaching tests. Therby a liquid–solid separation step including centrifugation may be required, which in turn might lead to loss of analytes due to sorption on the equipment. Thus we determined the PAH recoveries from various container materials (polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polytetraflourethylene (PTFE), stainless steel (ES), and perflouroalkoxy (PFA)) and compared them to selected PAH properties. We found the best recoveries for PFA (68%) and PTFE (65%) containers. We found good negative correlations (−0.93 and better) between PAH recovery and log partition coefficient organic carbon–water (log KOC) for PFA, PTFE, and ES containers.