Simplified Analysis of Chlorinated Ethenes in Water Samples by Gas Chromatography with Flame Ionization Detection

Abstract

Chlorinated ethenes are among the most common environmental contaminants and are known or suspected carcinogens. This class of compounds includes perchloroethene (PCE), trichloroethene (TCE), and their breakdown products, including dichloroethene (DCE) isomers and vinyl chloride (VC). Engineers and scientists must be able to measure concentrations of these chemicals in water samples to assess site contamination, monitor clean-up progress, and test possible remediation technologies. Gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC/ FID) is a common method for measuring these contaminants in environmental samples. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that FID response factors are equal for all chlorinated ethene compounds. The rationale for the investigation was that if the hypothesis is correct, a single calibration curve can be used for GC/FID analysis of all chlorinated ethene compounds, saving time and money during sample analysis. Based on our measurements, a single calibration curve (FID response versus mass of analyte injected) is applicable to analysis of PCE, TCE, and all three DCE isomers (r 2 = 0.990, n = 50 measurements), allowing for simplified quantification of those chemicals. However, the apparent FID response factor for VC was lower by *40%, indicating that a separate calibration curve would need to be used to accurately estimate the VC concentration in water samples. The difference in the apparent VC response factor is caused predominantly by losses of VC to volatilization during the analysis.

Removal of tetrachloroethylene from homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media: Combined effects of surfactant solubilization and oxidant degradation

“…The DNAPL residual saturation values are listed in Table 1. PCE concentrations in aqueous samples were measured using a gas chromatograph (GC) (6890N, Agilent Technologies, USA) equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID) using the serial dilution method developed by Ticknor et al [37]. Prior to analysis, samples were homogenized and diluted with isopropanol [15].…”

Sulfurospirillum diekertiae sp. nov., a tetrachloroethene-respiring bacterium isolated from contaminated soil

“…Growth was determined as increase in turbidity at 600 nm (OD600) using a Hitachi UH5300 spectrophotometer and/or the detection of reduced product(s) transformed from a potential electron acceptor by comparing to uninoculated abiotic incubations. Chlorinated compounds were analysed using an Agilent 7890B GC-FID or an Agilent 1260 II HPLC system [42,43]. Reduction of elemental sulphur or an oxidized sulphur compound was analysed by measuring the formation of sulphide using the modified methylene blue method as described [44].…”

Quantifying Impacts of Microcosm Mass Loss on Kinetic Constant Estimation

“…The added error approximated GC analytical measurement error and was assumed to follow a normal distribution with a zero mean and constant coefficient of variation (COV) for each aliphatic hydrocarbon. The COVs for cis-DCE and VC (2.9% and 3.9%, respectively) were estimated by extracting data from published GC calibration curves 53 and fitting a linear regression to the sample standard deviations for each standard solution. The COV for ethene (3.9%) was assumed equal to that for VC.…”