RATIONALE Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in oil spill samples are analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) using four different methods: (1) full scan (SCAN), (2) selected ion monitoring (SIM), (3) multiple reaction monitoring (MRM), and (4) pseudo multiple reaction monitoring (PMRM). This study quantifies the relative performance of these methods. METHODS Novel experiments were designed to measure the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios of all four methods. This was accomplished by spiking the crude oil with five deuterated PAHs (dPAHs) in two distinct ways: (1) varying the background noise by changing crude oil concentrations before spiking the samples with 1 ng/mL of dPAHs, and (2) varying the signal by spiking dPAHs concentrations of 0.5 and 5 ng/mL into a crude oil sample. RESULTS The MRM method is the most selective and sensitive of the four methods. It also provides the lowest limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ). MRM is the optimal approach for quantifying PAHs in complex petroleum samples containing high levels of background noise. Also, our data show that the PAHs in complex oil spill samples can be quantified by MRM without using any complicated sample preparation steps. CONCLUSIONS Based on our experimental data, the relative performance of the four methods used for quantifying PAHs in crude oil samples can be ranked as MRM > PMRM > SIM > SCAN.

中文翻译：

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了解SCAN，SIM，PMRM和MRM方法在量化原油样品中多环芳烃的相对性能。

理由溢油样品中存在的多环芳烃（PAHs）使用四种不同方法通过气相色谱/质谱（GC / MS）和气相色谱/串联质谱（GC / MS / MS）进行分析：（1）全扫描（ SCAN），（2）选定的离子监测（SIM），（3）多反应监测（MRM）和（4）假多反应监测（PMRM）。这项研究量化了这些方法的相对性能。方法设计了新颖的实验来测量所有四种方法的信噪比（S / N）。这是通过以两种不同的方式向原油中掺入五个氘代PAH（dPAH）来实现的：（1）在添加1 ng / mL dPAHs样品之前，通过改变原油浓度来改变背景噪声，以及（2）改变通过使dPAHs浓度为0来发出信号。5和5 ng / mL加入原油样品中。结果MRM方法是四种方法中最具选择性和敏感性的方法。它还提供最低的检测限（LOD）和定量限（LOQ）。MRM是定量分析包含高背景噪音的复杂石油样品中PAHs的最佳方法。同样，我们的数据表明，复杂的溢油样品中的PAH可以通过MRM定量，而无需使用任何复杂的样品制备步骤。结论根据我们的实验数据，用于定量原油样品中PAHs的四种方法的相对性能可以归类为MRM> PMRM> SIM> SCAN。MRM是定量分析含有高背景噪声的复杂石油样品中PAHs的最佳方法。同样，我们的数据表明，复杂的溢油样品中的多环芳烃可以通过MRM进行定量，而无需使用任何复杂的样品制备步骤。结论根据我们的实验数据，用于定量原油样品中PAHs的四种方法的相对性能可以归类为MRM> PMRM> SIM> SCAN。MRM是定量分析含有高背景噪声的复杂石油样品中PAHs的最佳方法。同样，我们的数据表明，复杂的溢油样品中的多环芳烃可以通过MRM进行定量，而无需使用任何复杂的样品制备步骤。结论根据我们的实验数据，用于定量原油样品中PAHs的四种方法的相对性能可以归类为MRM> PMRM> SIM> SCAN。