Simultaneous Determination of 11 Volatile Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in Soil

A new and simple method was developed for determining volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons in the soil, such as dichloromethane, 1, 1-dichloroethylene, trans-1, 2-dichloroethylene, cis-1, 2-dichloroethylene, 1, 1-dichloroethane, 1, 2-dichloroethane, chloroform, 1, 1, 1-trichloroethane, carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene. The sample was shaken with ethanol for 2 h. The target compounds in the extract were determined by GC/MS using the head-space analysis. The volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons in 5 species of soil were determined with recoveries of more than 90%. The changes of the concentrations of the target compounds in the soil suspended in ethanol were in the range of 88-121% according to the four times determination of the ethanol extract for a week. These results indicate that the volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons in the soil were recovered completely by this ethanol extraction procedure. This method is characterized by the fact that the ethanol extraction results in a good recovery with well-defined peaks of the target compounds, and moreover that the soil sample is adequately preserved without loss of recovery.