Remediation of heavy hydrocarbon impacted soil using biopolymer and polystyrene foam beads.

A green chemistry solution is presented for the remediation of heavy hydrocarbon impacted soils. The two-phase recovery system relies on a plant-based biopolymer, which releases hydrocarbons from soil, and polystyrene foam beads, which recover them from solids and water. The efficiency of the process was demonstrated by comparisons with control experiments, where water, biopolymer, or beads alone yielded total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) reductions of 25%, 52%, and 58%, respectively, compared to 94% when 1.

Errors in alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and sulfur heterocycle concentrations caused by currently employed standardized methods.

Alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycle (PASH) standardized methods often rely on gas chromatography/mass spectrometry operated in the selected ion monitoring mode (GC/MS-SIM). The objective of this study is to develop a method that produces accurate data while minimizing sample preparation and achieving low levels of detection. Most standardized methods are based on acquiring a given homologue's molecular ion (1-ion).

A new spectral deconvolution - selected ion monitoring method for the analysis of alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in complex mixtures.

A new gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method is proffered for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and their alkylated homologs in complex samples. Recent work elucidated the fragmentation pathways of alkylated PAH, concluding that multiple fragmentation patterns per homolog (MFPPH) are needed to correctly identify all isomers. Programming the MS in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode to detect homolog-specific MFPPH ions delivers the selectivity and sensitivity that the conventional SIM and/or full scan mass spectrometry methods fail to provide.

Toward the accurate analysis of C1-C4 polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles.

Polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles (PASH) are sulfur analogues of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Alkylated PAH attract much attention as carcinogens, mutagens, and as diagnostics for environmental forensics. PASH, in contrast, are mostly ignored in the same studies due to the conspicuous absence of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) retention times and fragmentation patterns.