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SPECIATION OF SUBSURFACE CONTAMINANTS BY CONE PENETROMETRY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/MASS SPECTROMETRY. (R826184)
Citation:
Gorshteyn, A., S. Smarason, AND A. Robbat. SPECIATION OF SUBSURFACE CONTAMINANTS BY CONE PENETROMETRY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/MASS SPECTROMETRY. (R826184). ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 33(14):2474-2480, (1999).
Description:
A thermal extraction cone penetrometry gas chroma tography/mass spectrometry system (TECP GC/MS) has been developed to detect subsurface contaminants in situ. The TECP can collect soil-bound organics up to depths of 30 m. In contrast to traditional cone penetrometer sample collectors, the TECP extracts organics from soil without bringing the soil to the surface or into a collection chamber. Results show that polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chlorinated pesticides, and explosives can be recovered (60-95%) from wet or dry soil, with extraction efficiency compound-specific. The data are in remarkable agreement with closed cell thermal desorption (TD) experiments, where no organics are lost to the environment during heating. TECP GC/MS results also compare favorably with solvent-extracted GC/MS analyses and can be used to delineate the presence and extent of contamination at hazardous waste sites. Data illustrating TECP dependence on probe temperature and soil moisture as well as carrier gas linear velocity and volume (modified Reynolds number) are shown along with sample analysis data from two hazardous waste sites. The total ion and reconstructed ion current chromatograms are shown for PAHs collected by TECP from a coal tar contaminated soil obtained at a manufactured gas plant in Massachusetts. TECP and TD results are within 15% for nonvolatile PAHs and within 50% of the solvent-extracted data.