Introducing a new ASTM standard which uses a more rapid, purely-optical, reagent- and extraction-free, method for Detection of Water-Soluble Petroleum Oils
Piscataway, NJ August 30th, 2022 HORIBA Scientific, global leader in fluorescence spectroscopy solutions, is proud to announce that Aqualog, our compact benchtop spectrometer, is featured in a new approved ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) method for Detection of Water Soluble Petroleum Oils with A-TEEM (Absorbance-Transmission and Fluorescence Excitation and Emission Matrices) Optical Spectroscopy and Multivariate Analysis. This is the first ASTM standard developed by committee D19 in coordination with HORIBA Scientific’s Fluorescence Division.
ASTM’s water committee (D19) has approved a new standard that will help ensure compliance with drinking water quality requirements, minimize environmental impact, and protect public health.
This new standard (D8431) will be used by drinking water treatment plant operators and technicians as a first line of defence for both initially detecting petroleum product spills in source water, as well as tracking attenuation over time, to prevent contaminant uptake into the processed water and water treatment infrastructure.
Current EPA methods for detecting purgeable organic compounds (524.2) and semi-volatile organic compounds (8270D) use gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technology. This new ASTM standard uses a more rapid, purely-optical, reagent- and extraction-free method that yields sensitivity in the µg/L range consistent with the USEPA Maximum Contamination Levels (MCL) for Benzene and other regulated petroleum compounds for finished water.
‘Aqualog is a gold standard in water research around the world for CDOM (Colored Dissolved Organic Matter), Disinfection Byproducts (DBPs), Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and Petroleum and Oil Products Spills. More recently Aqualog has been used in drinking water treatment plants as a rapid optical early warning sentinal” said Cary Davies, Global Product Line Manager, Fluorescence Division at HORIBA Scientific. “We are proud to have a new rapid BTEX detection technique using the Aqualog A-TEEM technology recognized with this new ASTM method D8431”.
An earlier fluorescence-based ASTM standard (D5412) previously developed by subcommittee D19.06 for quantification of complex polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) mixtures or petroleum oils in water, characterizes spectrally similar PAH mixtures using fluorescence emission and synchronous spectroscopy, and requires dilution or extraction using solvents. The new standard D8431 based on the patented HORIBA A-TEEM technique not only does not require solvents, but also provides reliable identification of specific target contaminants and concentration prediction using multivariate models involving classification and regression techniques.
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