Target Screening of Hydroxylated and Nitrated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Surface Water Using Orbitrap High–Resolution Mass Spectrometry in a Lake in Hebei, China

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) derivatives are mutagenic, carcinogenic, teratogenic and bioaccumulative pollutants. Investigations on hydroxylated PAHs (OH–PAHs) and Nitrated PAHs (NPAHs) in surface water are not enough. In this study, optimization and validation of an analytical method targeting nine kinds of OH–PAHs and one kind of nitrated PAH in environmental water samples are presented. The method was validated for linearity, limits of detection and quantification and recovery using spiked matrix. The linear range of most target compounds was 0.1–200 ng∙mL−1. However, the linear range of 1–hydroxy pyrene and 3–hydroxy benzo[a]pyrene started at 1 ng∙mL−1 and the linear range of 1–hydroxy phenanthrene and 9–hydroxy benzo[a]pyrene could not reach 200 ng∙mL−1. All the correlation coefficients (r2) were over 0.997. The instrumental limits of detection (LOD) and method detection limits (MDL) ranged from 0.01 to 0.67 ng∙mL−1 and 1.11 to 2.26 ng∙L−1, respectively. With this method, a lake in Hebei province, China, were screened. Three kinds of target compounds were detected. The average concentration was around 2.5 ng∙L−1, while the highest concentration reached 286.54 ng∙L−1.