Reliable separation and efficient group-type quantitation of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH)
10 September 2024
LCGC: The Column
Petroleum contamination from leaking underground storage tanks is a significant concern for both the environment and human health. Thorough characterisation of the contamination is required to form appropriate risk assessments and remediation strategies, but until now, the determination of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) in soil has typically involved a convoluted and labour-intensive process.
In this article, the analysis of TPH in environmental media is simplified using flow-modulated GCxGC–FID with quantitation based on pre-defined compound groupings. This approach overcomes the drawbacks of conventional solvent fractionation approaches, by eliminating the need for sample fractionation and automating data processing workflows.