ENVIRONMENTAL-ANALYSIS BY GC. ESTIMATION OF ERROR IN QUANTITATIVE-DETERMINATION FROM MULTICOMPONENT CHROMATOGRAMS

A procedure is presented in order to analyze GC chromatograms of multi component mixtures, such as environmental samples. The method makes it possible to estimate the mean error introduced in quantitative determ ination of a single component, due to peak overlapping present in the complex chromatogram. The procedure uses Fourier Analysis to determine the basic chromatographic attributes, i.e. the number of components m and the mean peak width sigma. The Statistical Model of Overlap is th en applied to estimate the statistical degree of overlapping present i n the chromatogram, i.e. probability of singlets, doublets,.. multiple ts. From such probability functions the mean quantitation error for on e single component can be computed. The consistency of the procedure i s verified on PCB mixtures. The method is applied to an environmental sample: a municipal solid waste incinerator fly ash.