Cooperative Evaluation of Methods for the Analysis of PAH in Extracts from Diesel Particulate Emissions

Two cooperative programs to measure polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in extracts from diesel particulate emissions were conducted by project groups of the Coordinating Research Council's Air Pollution Research Advisory Committee. The use of a uniform analysis method by all participating laboratories gave better precision than the use of different methods selected by each participant. Results from eight laboratories gave relative standard deviations for nine PAH which ranged from 15 to 34% using the uniform method. These results show that this method for PAH provides adequate precision for diesel fuel-and-vehicle studies as well as for health effects assessment.