Sonication-Laser excited time-resolved Shpol'skii spectrometry: A facile method for the direct screening of fifteen priority pollutants in soil samples

GOICOECHEA, HÉCTOR C; S YU,; ANDRES CAMPIGLIA,

APPLIED SPECTROSCOPY

Society for Applied Spectroscopy

Lugar: New York; Año: 2007 vol. 61 p. 165 - 170

0003-7028

A unique method for monitoring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in soil samples is reported. Milligrams of soil are sonicated into the vial of a cryogenic fiber optic probe with 250mL of n-octane.  Pollutants partition into the layer of extracting solvent and the cryogenic probe is then used for fluorescence measurements at liquid helium temperature (4.2K). N-octane provides PAH with the appropriate Shpol’skii matrix to record highly resolved spectra and characteristic fluorescence lifetimes. Unambiguous PAH determination is directly performed from the layer of extracting solvent with no need for previous PAH separation. The total analysis time from the extraction to PAH identification is approximately 35 min per sample. Limits of detection are at the sub-parts per billion levels. The simplicity of the experimental procedure, the short analysis time, the selectivity and the excellent analytical figures of merit demonstrate the advantages of this approach for routine analysis of soil samples