A more accurate analysis of alkylated PAH and PASH and its implications in environmental forensics

The accurate measurement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles (PASH), and their alkylated homologues is essential at all levels of risk assessment and remedial decision-making. In the field of environmental forensics, diagnostic ratios of these compounds...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental analytical chemistry 2014-03, Vol.94 (4), p.332-347
Main Authors: Antle, Patrick M., Zeigler, Christian D., Wilton, Nicholas M., Robbat, Jr, Albert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
alkylated PAH
alkylated PASH
Analytical chemistry
Chromatography
diagnostic ratios
environmental forensics
Extraction processes
Forensic sciences
fragmentation patterns
GC/MS
Health risk assessment
Mass spectrometry
oil spill fingerprinting
PAH
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
weathering
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The accurate measurement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles (PASH), and their alkylated homologues is essential at all levels of risk assessment and remedial decision-making. In the field of environmental forensics, diagnostic ratios of these compounds are used to delineate fossil fuel-based sources from one another and to assess the degree of weathering occurring on-site. Fresh and weathered coal tar and crude oil samples from different locations were analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The same files were analysed by selected ion extraction of one-ion and two-ion signals from full-scan data and compared to a new data analysis method using spectral information from homologous isomers. Findings showed that using too few ions produced false positives and concentrations much higher than those found using the homologous isomer spectral method, which adversely affected the corresponding diagnostic ratios used by forensic scientists.
ISSN:0306-7319
1029-0397
DOI:10.1080/03067319.2013.840886