Reversed Phase SPE and GC-MS Study of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water Samples from the River Buriganga, Bangladesh

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) categorized as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). PAHs are ubiquitous in terrestrial, atmospheric, and particularly aquatic environments throughout the world and have been detected in lakes, ground waters, and rivers. This research work involved the analysis of five PAHs, anthracene, fluorene, naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene, in water sample collected from the river Buriganga, Bangladesh. The extraction of water samples was carried out by reversed phase solid-phase extraction (RP-SPE) technique with C-18 SPE cartridges. A solvent mixture of dichloromethane and hexane (1 : 2) with a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min was used as eluent. Percentage recoveries of five PAHs for this technique were in the range of 81.47 ± 1.16 to 98.60 ± 0.61%. PAHs quantification was achieved by using an ion trap gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GC-MS) interfaced to gas chromatography (GC) equipped with a fused silica capillary column. Helium was used as carrier gas with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The commonly detected PAH compounds in the river water were anthracene, naphthalene, and phenanthrene at the concentration ranges of 0.451 to 3.201, 0.033 to 3.1131, and 0.320 to 2.546 μg/mL, respectively. The results reflect that PAHs presented in this river water were mostly from petrogenic and pyrogenic sources.