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Identification of ester metabolites from petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation in groundwater using GC×GC‐TOFMS
Author(s) -
O'Reilly Kirk T.,
Mohler Rachel E.,
Zemo Dawn A.,
Ahn Sungwoo,
Tiwary Asheesh K.,
Magaw Renae I.,
Espino Devine Catalina,
Synowiec Karen A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.3022
Subject(s) - biodegradation , hydrocarbon , chemistry , environmental chemistry , petroleum , gas chromatography , mass spectrometry , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , petroleum product , chromatography , organic chemistry
In an effort to understand the nature and toxicity of petroleum hydrocarbon degradation metabolites, 2‐dimensional gas chromatography linked to a time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer (GC×GC‐TOFMS) was used to conduct nontargeted analysis of the extracts of 61 groundwater samples collected from 10 fuel release sites. An unexpected result was the tentative identification of 197 unique esters. Although esters are known to be part of specific hydrocarbon degradative pathways, they are not commonly considered or evaluated in field studies of petroleum biodegradation. In addition to describing the compounds identified, the present study discusses the role for nontargeted analysis in environmental studies. Overall, the low toxicological profile of the identified esters, along with the limited potential for exposure, renders them unlikely to pose any significant health risk. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:1959–1961. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of SETAC.