Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Agricultural Soils by Gas Chromatography-Ion Trap Tandem Mass Spectrometry

An investigation has been carried out on collision-induced dissociation (CID) in the development of an analytical protocol for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PARs) by ion trap tandem mass spectrometry. Two different considerations were used to choose the optimal CID conditions for complex matrix environmental samples, namely, to determine the highest signal-to-noise (SIN) ratio and the other to eliminate the background interferences originated from complex matrix samples. The PAR content of agricultural soil was measured to estimate overall distribution of PAR in throughout the country, we collected and analyzed 226 soil samples from paddy and upland soil. The average content of total PAR in all samples was 236 ${\mu}g$ $kg^{-1}$, and the range was from 23.3 to 2, 834 ${\mu}g$ $kg^{-1}$. The overall distribution of PAR was found to be closely related to the pollution sources, the size of city and the type of industry.