Quantification of chrysene and benzo(a)pyrene in surface water samples by fluorescence measurement / Quantificação de cristão e benzo (a) pireno em amostras de água de superfície por medição de fluorescência

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, are compounds of organic nature derived from burning other organic compounds. They are common in nature, but in high concentrations are a sign of pollution and have harmful effects on human health. Therefore, techniques to identify and quantify these compounds in environmental samples, especially water samples, become essential. In this paper we apply the technique of synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy to identify and quantify types of PAH in water samples, showing the simplicity of execution and low cost of the technique over other ones conventionally used and reported. For this study, we choose two PAH which seem to be the most common in the environment and are associated with several diseases, including cancer. Analytical curves were constructed, and analytical parameters for their determination collected; limits of detection and quantification were 2.0 and 6.7 ng.mL-1 for chrysene and 1.7 and 5.7 ng.mL-1 for benzo[a]pyrene, respectively. To study the validity of the proposed method, water samples collected from a stream in the city of Dourados (MS, Brazil) were studied. At each of the collection points, significant concentrations of chrysene and benzo[a]pyrene was detected, mostly at levels above those permitted by international regulatory organizations