Thermal desorption as an environmentally sound alternative for the determination of high production volume chemicals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in particulate matter

Particulate matter (PM) is a key component of air pollution, not only because of its own effects on human health but also because of certain semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) which can be carried on its surface, such as benzothiazoles, phthalate esters (PAEs), ultraviolet stabilizers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Developing analytical methods for the determination of these compounds on PM samples is essential, especially in the light of current trends in the analytical processes such as automation and green chemistry. In this study, a method based on thermal desorption coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) was developed and validated for the determination of 17 high production volume chemicals (HPVCs) and 13 PAHs at pg m^-3 levels and evaluated using AGREEprep, with an overall score of 0.68. The method was applied to PM₁₀ air samples collected from the Port of Tarragona. The most representative target compounds were PAEs, accounting for 72% of the total and with the widest concentration ranges. Out of them, diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) was the most prevalent compound, with concentrations between 2647 pg m^-3 and 5298 pg m^-3. The family of PAHs accounted for 17% of the total with a mean value of 9823 pg m^-3. Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), which is regulated to a maximum annual average concentration of 1000 pg m^-3 in PM₁₀ by the European Directive , 2024/2881, was not detected in any of the samples analysed; hence, its concentration was below the regulatory limit.