On the possibility for separate determination of pyrolyzed products (soot and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) in aerosols by EPR spectrometry

The present paper demonstrates the applicability of EPR spectrometry for separate estimation of soot (EC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in aerosols. The content of EC is obtained directly because of their paramagnetic properties whereas diamagnetic PAH, adsorbed on the soot, are converted to paramagnetic forms by oxidation over silica/alumina catalyst. In order to fulfill the goal of our study at this stage only few samples of aerosols are investigated after being collected at four different locations: near and distant to motorway, office and cafeteria. The obtained results show that the quantities of soot and PAH in all cases are μg m−3. However, their content varies depending on the place of sample collection. The following order of decreasing soot quantity is found: motorway>urban air>cafeteria>office whereas for PAH the order is cafeteria motorway>urban air>office. The obtained results are discussed in the light of the pollution sources at the sampling places.