An Optimized Method for the Determination of Volatile and Semi-volatile Aldehydes and Ketones in Ambient Particulate Matter

A method has been developed to measure aldehydes and ketones associated with atmospheric particles. Carbonyl compounds from particulate material collected on Teflon-coated glass-fiber filters were simultaneously extracted and derivatized with an appropriate 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNPH) solution. The efficiency of this procedure utilizing various 2,4-DNPH concentrations and solvent compositions was studied for 13 carbonyl compounds of atmospheric importance. These include formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, dicarbonyls such as glyoxal and methylglyoxal, and biogenic carbonyls such as pinonaldehyde and nopinone. An extraction solution containing 3 10 M 2,4-DNPH, in 60% acetonitrile/40% water, and pH 3 was most efficient in extracting and derivatizing these aldehydes and ketones (83–100% recovery). Improved sample enrichment and 2,4-DNPH purification methods were developed that afforded detection limits of 0.009–5.6 ngm . The relative standard deviation for replicate analyses were 1.9–10.1%. Carbonyl compounds in ambient particulate samples were quantified during a recent field study. Median values for nine carbonyl species ranged from 0.01–33.9 ngm 3 during the study.