Fingerprinting Petroleum Contamination Using Synchronous Scanning Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Abstract

Abstract Synchronous scanning fluorescence spectroscopy is a simple, cost‐effective method for fingerprinting many petroleum contaminants in ground‐water and soil samples. The extraction of contaminated ground‐water and soil samples with water and cyclohexane followed by the synchronous scanning fluorescence spectrophotometry of the organic extract is described for over 20 petroleum product standards and actual samples. This method allows for the classification and identification of aromatic‐containing products such as: gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil, various grades of fuel oil, and asphalt. This analytical method is more efficient than chromatographic methods typically used for quantitative analysis of petroleum contaminants and its spectra are easier to interpret for fingerprinting purposes. Several case studies of its use in determining among alternate sources of contamination are presented.