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A New Method for Determining Compound Specific Carbon Isotope of Chlorinated Solvents in Porewater
Author(s) -
Herrero Jofre,
Puigserver Diana,
Parker Beth L.,
Carmona José M.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
groundwater monitoring and remediation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-6592
pISSN - 1069-3629
DOI - 10.1111/gwmr.12435
Subject(s) - chemistry , trichloroethylene , tetrachloroethylene , detection limit , mass spectrometry , environmental chemistry , extraction (chemistry) , gas chromatography , chromatography , solvent , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , solid phase extraction , isotope ratio mass spectrometry , isotope analysis , contamination , isotopes of carbon , total organic carbon , organic chemistry , ecology , biology
A new method for the extraction of chlorinated solvents (CSs) from porewater with dimethylacetamide (DMA) used as a solvent and the determination of δ 13 C by gas chromatography‐isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC‐IRMS) with solid‐phase microextraction (SPME) are presented. This method was used for the determination of δ 13 C of chloroethenes and chloromethanes. The extraction of the CSs from porewater with DMA led to a minimal loss of mass of solvent and chlorinated compounds. The accuracy of the method was verified with the analysis of the pure injected compounds using elemental analyzer—isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA‐IRMS). It has been effectively applied in a study area in saturated soil samples of a pollutant source zone of perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE). The limit of quantification of the new method was 0.034 μg/g for PCE and TCE for 10–20 g of soil sample. This new method allows for compound‐specific isotope analysis of CSs in porewater, which can be beneficial in sites where the identification of contamination sources and the behavior of the contaminants are not clear.