An Improved Method for the Determination of Petroleum Hydrocarbons From Soil Using a Simple Ultrasonic Extraction and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometry

Abstract

An environmentally friendly, cheap, and quick method for total petroleum hydrocarbons determination in solid matrixes (soil and sediments) is described. The method involves a simple extraction process (ultrasonic bath) and requires reduced amounts of solvent and solid sample. The analysis is carried out by Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry. Detection limits were 63 or 24 mg kg −1 depending on the cell path length (10 or 40 mm, respectively). The method is suitable for application in weathered contaminated soils, which usually presents low availability of contaminants and seems to be a good choice, for instance, for monitoring evolution of soil or sediment recovering during a decontamination process.

Diversity and Hydrocarbon-Degrading Potential of Deep-Sea Microbial Community from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, South of the Azores (North Atlantic Ocean)

“…For TPHs measurements, an adaption of the optimized protocol described by Couto et al [39] was followed. For that, 5 mL of tetrachloroethylene (≥99% spectrophotometric grade, Sigma-Aldrich Steinhein, Germany) were added to each flask containing a sample.…”

Salt Marsh Plants’ Potential for the Remediation of Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Environments

“…During the 5-month experiment, sediment samples were periodically collected from all pots. Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT/IR), using a previous optimised method (Couto et al 2014 ). Gas chromatography with fl ame ionisation detection (GC/FID) was used to obtain information on the aliphatic hydrocarbon profi le in the sediments, in the hydrocarbon range between C 10 and C 40 (adapted from Saari et al 2007 ).…”

Suitability of Scirpus maritimus for petroleum hydrocarbons remediation in a refinery environment

“…A previously optimized procedure (Couto et al 2011b) was used for this purpose. Briefly, 1 g of soil was mixed with 1 g of anhydrous sodium sulphate, in order to avoid any interference of water that could remain in the sample, and 10 mL of tetrachloroethylene was added.…”