Polycyclic aromatics hydrocarbons (PAH) are an important class of pollutants ubiquitous in the environment. They have been spread from its source to different parts of the world, like Amazonia and Antartica, and they have already been related to many health issues, such as cancer, behavior disorders in children and miscarriage. In this study, spectrometric studies were conducted and a system, composed by a glass tube, a 50 mL trap and a succion pump, was developed to monitor the gas-solid mass transfer. Naphthalene, anthracene and chrysene were the compounds used on the studies, being representants of two, three and four-ring compounds, respectively. The mixture of XAD-2/Silica in a proportion of 2:1 gave the best results in terms of mass uptake of PAH and preliminar process kinetics, although it is recommended to use it in a proportion of 1:1, as it gives a better cost/benefit result. In addition, improvements on the systems temperature control are necessary for experiments with PAH with more than two rings.

Professor of Chemistry at the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil. Postdoctorate at the Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, Germany. PhD in Natural Sciences at the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universitat Hannover - Germany. Master of Science in Chemistry and Industrial Chemist andLicentiate in Chemistry - UFSM, Brazil.