Synchronous determination of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in street soil samples by 2nd derivative spectrofluorimetry

Many of PAHs with polycyclic structure shows superior sensitivity for the determination of each component in any mixture due to their fluorescence emission intensity. Synchronous 2nd derivative fluorimetric method was successfully applied for the determination of 7 PAHs in 15 street soil samples recommended by EPA (USA) free from intervention. The most effective measuring wavelength for the fluorescence of PAHs was individually selected by successive addition of /spl Delta//spl lambda/(5 nm increment up to 200 nm) to the initial emission wavelength. The calibration graphs of the PAHs were linear at the concentration range of 0.4 /spl sim/ 100 ppb with the correlation efficient of 0.999. The analytical result of the PAHs content could be used for the estimation of traffic effect on the contamination of soil.