IDENTIFICATION OF OIL HYDROCARBONS IN SEAWATER USING DIFFERENT ANALYTICAL METHODS

The results of hydrocarbon determination by integral (fluorescence and infrared spectroscopy) and differential methods (gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography-mass sp ectrometry) are reported. The correlations between different classes o f hydrocarbons bear witness to changes in the background characteristi cs of hydrocarbons occurring in water areas. It is shown that the reli able evaluation of the contamination of water basins requires the dete rmination of the composition of hydrocarbons in different forms of mig ration by differential methods, whereas integral analytical methods ma y be used for preliminary estimation only.