This Technical Specification specifies a measurement method for the determination of the particle bound
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds benz[a]anthracene (BaA), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF),
benzo[j]fluoranthene (BjF), benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF), dibenz[a,h]anthracene (DBahA), indeno[1,2,3-
cd]pyrene (INP) and benzo[ghi]perylene (BghiP) in ambient air, which can be used in the framework of
Council Directive 2008/50/EC [10] and Directive 2004/107/EC [11]. This document specifies performance
characteristics and performance criteria for this measurement method. The performance characteristics of the
measurement method are based on a sampling period of 24 h.
This Technical Specification describes a measurement method which comprises sampling of the selected
PAH compounds as part of the PM10 particles, sample extraction and analysis by high performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detector (FLD) or by gas chromatography with mass spectrometric
detection (GC-MS). The method is applicable for the measurement of the PAH compounds in the
concentration range from approx. 0,04 ng/m3 to approximately 20 ng/m3 for BaA, BbF, BjF, BkF, BaP, INP and
BghiP and 0,02 ng/m3 to approximately 2 ng/m3 for DBahA. Table 1 shows examples for concentrations of the
compounds (annual mean values) for sampling sites with different characteristics.