API PUBL 4599-1994

$39.00

Interlaboratory Study of Three Methods for Analyzing Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Soil

Published By	Publication Date	Number of Pages
API	1994	148

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Description

Since 1987, the American Petroleum Institute (API) has funded efforts to establish reliable analytical laboratory methods for the measurement of a wide range of petroleum hydrocarbons in soil. Currently available methods, although many are approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and are in wide use by laboratories, are generally limited to certain analytes and/or are lacking in rigorousmethod performance data. For example, many total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) tests use Freon-113,which is not effective in extracting heavy distillates. TPH tests also have low recoveries for volatile hydrocarbon components of gasoline. Results from analyte-specific methods, such as EPA’s SW-846 methods and 600 series, are difficult to correlate to particular petroleum products.

As a consequence, API sought to develop improved methods for gasoline-range and diesel-range organics in soil. API conducted a literature search and symposium to identify an analytical procedure for gasoline-range organics, originally defined as hydrocarbons in the C6e-C10 range, at environmental (ppb or ppm) concentrations. Theselected method was to rely on existing technology and consider regulatory guidelines. The method selected was a capillary column gas chromatography/flame ionization detector (GC/FID) technique, with sample introduction by extraction in methanol followed by purge-and-trap. A single laboratory validation study was conducted, as well as an evaluation of sampling techniques. The initial draft of the GRO method, the results of the single laboratory validation study, and the evaluation of sampling techniques are presented in Enseco (1991).

The inter-laboratory study presented in this report is a continuation of the GRO research reported in Enseco (1991). Since that study, two additional methods – a diesel-range organics (DRO) method to measure C10-C28hydrocarbons, and a petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) method to measure C6-C28 hydrocarbons -have been drafted and are also addressed by this inter-laboratory validation study. The GRO and DRO methods were developed by API, and the PHC method was developed by Shell Development Company.

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