Title: Proposal for a deconvolution procedure for the gas chromatographic estimation of pristane and phytane in marine sediments

Authors: Mauro Mecozzi, Michele Scarpiniti, Emanuela Ragosta, Marco Pietroletti, Rossella Di Mento

Addresses: ISPRA, Via di Casalotti 300, 00166, Rome, Italy. ' INFOCOM Department, 'Sapienza' University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy. ' ISPRA, Via di Casalotti 300, 00166 Rome, Italy. ' ISPRA, Via di Casalotti 300, 00166 Rome, Italy. ' ISPRA, Via di Casalotti 300, 00166 Rome, Italy

Abstract: In this paper, a deconvolution procedure for improving the quantitative estimation of specific hydrocarbons by chromatographic techniques is reported. The proposed technique has been applied to the gas chromatographic determination of the pristane to phytane (pri/phy) ratio, an important parameter for the evaluation of biogenic and anthropogenic contributions present in the hydrocarbon content of marine sediments. The determinations of pri/phy can be hardly performed because in the complex mixture of hydrocarbons extracted from marine sediments, their peaks are strongly overlapped with other hydrocarbon peaks. The proposed procedure allows the reconstruction of the two peaks of the considered hydrocarbons, so reducing the uncertainty depending on the peak area estimation of overlapped peaks and allowing an assessment of biogenic and anthropogenic hydrocarbon contributions in marine sediments.

Keywords: deconvolution; marine sediments; gas chromatography; pristane; phytane; hydrocarbons.

DOI: 10.1504/IJENVH.2009.022909

International Journal of Environment and Health, 2009 Vol.3 No.1, pp.126 - 138

Published online: 02 Feb 2009 *

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