Analysis of organics in soils

CHED 220

Matthew E. Shannon, shannonm@duq.edu and Stephanie J. Wetzel, wetzels@duq.edu. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15282
Procedures were studied to extract and analyze organic content from soil which eventually may be used, in conjunction with other methods, to definitively characterize locations that a particular soil may have originated from. Several extraction techniques – heating, sonication, and heating followed by sonication – as well as several different extracting solvents – (1:1) acetone:hexane, methylene chloride, acetone, methanol, and acetonitrile – were studied and the extractions were analyzed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Preliminary findings indicate that acetone:hexane and methylene chloride are the best choices of solvents. Heating followed by sonicating proved to be an effective extraction method. Experiments were designed using solid-phase extraction to remove large hydrocarbons present in all soils that interfere with analysis.