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Quantification of total petrol hydrocarbons (TPH) in soil by IR-spectrometry and gas chromatography – conclusions from three proficiency testing rounds

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Abstract 

Due to the utilisation of 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane (CFE) as extraction solvent the IR-spectrometric determination of total petrol hydrocarbon (TPH) in soil according to ISO/TR 11046 has been replaced by gas chromatography/flame ionisation detection (GC/FID) after extraction with a halogen-free solvent according to ISO/DIS 16703:2001. The results obtained with both methods by field laboratories in three proficiency testing (PT) rounds are compared. The consensus means obtained with GC/FID are typically 10%–20% (ranging between 0% and 25%) higher than those found with IR-spectroscopy. On the contrary, coefficients of variation (CV) are roughly double in case of GC/FID and are briefly discussed against the background of the Horwitz equation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard-Willstätter-Strasse 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany e-mail: roland.becker@bam.de Tel.: +49-30-8104-1121 Fax: +49-30-8104-1127, , , , , , DE

    R. Becker, Matthias Koch, Sigrid Wachholz & Tin Win

Authors
  1. R. Becker
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  2. Matthias Koch
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  3. Sigrid Wachholz
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  4. Tin Win
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Received: 19 November 2001 Accepted: 17 March 2002

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Becker, R., Koch, M., Wachholz, S. et al. Quantification of total petrol hydrocarbons (TPH) in soil by IR-spectrometry and gas chromatography – conclusions from three proficiency testing rounds. Accred Qual Assur 7, 286–289 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-002-0476-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-002-0476-9

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