NEW APPROACH TO STUDY OF SPILLED CRUDE OILS USING HIGH-RESOLUTION GC-MS (SIM) AND METASTABLE REACTION MONITORING GC-MS-MS

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and geochemical biomarkers are good environmental markers to study the origin and evolution of an oi l spill. To have access to the greatest number of molecular ratios, no fractionation of oil into aliphatic and aromatic compounds is made. T hree analytical MS approaches are tested to analyze markers in this to tal hydrocarbon fraction: classical quadrupole GC-MS, high resolution GC-MS (HR GC-MS) and metastable reaction monitoring GC-MS-MS (MRM GC-M S-MS). This analytical approach is used to follow, the evolution of PA Hs in petroleum polluted mangrove soils over 8 years by using molecula r ratios between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and tri- and tetracy clic terpanes. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.