Gas Chromatographic/Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometric Identification of Hazardous Waste Extract Components

摘要

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) and its amendments require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to institute a program to control hazardous waste. Implementation of the RCRA will require reliable monitoring tools for the characterization of a broad spectrum of hazardous wastes. Accordingly, the capability of packed column gas chromatography/Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (GC/FT-IR) using the Gas Infrared Fourier Transform Software (GIFTS) to analyze complex hazardous waste extracts was tested. These extracts were also analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and the on-line library search results for both techniques were compared. GC/FT-IR was a powerful tool for aromatic isomer differentiation in these complex wastes. The GIFTS on-line library search correctly identified poorly resolved gas chromatographic effluent components. The magnitude of the GIFTS hit index difference between the first and second library search hits is a reliable indicator of the search validity. The combination of GC/FT-IR and GC/MS may provide the identification of all volatile components in complex environmental extracts.