Abstract
A continuous flow configuration is proposed for the estimation of the hydrocarbon index in soils using for the first time evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD). The method is based on a membrane-enrichment of the hydrocarbons of interest (C 10–C 40), which are previously extracted from the soil matrix with a water:hexane mixture using a household microwave oven. The organic supernatant is cleaned-up through silica, evaporated and redissolved in a sodium dodecyl sulphate aqueous solution which is introduced in the loop of an injection valve. The sample, carried by an aqueous stream, passes through a continuous filtration unit fitted with a 1 μm pore size PTFE membrane, where the hydrocarbons are retained while the potential coextracted compounds are wasted. Quantitative elution of the C 10–C 40 fraction is accomplished by passing an acetone stream through the filter which drives the analytes to the ELSD system for analytical measurement. The detection limit was 1.8 μg ml −1, the linear range 5–25 μg ml −1 and the precision 4.3 %. The recoveries were between 93 and 97%. The proposed method was also evaluated by attenuated total reflexion-Fourier transform (ATR-FT-IR) analysis of the extracts.
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