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1.1 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) narcosis model for benthic organisms in sediments contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is based on the concentrations of dissolved PAHs in the interstitial water or "pore water" in sediment. This test method covers the separation of pore water from PAH-impacted sediment samples, the removal of colloids, and the subsequent measurement of dissolved concentrations of the required 10 parent PAHs and 14 groups of alkylated daughter PAHs in the pore water samples. The "24 PAHs" are determined using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) followed by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. Isotopically labeled analogs of the target compounds are introduced prior to the extraction, and are used as quantification references.

1.2 Lower molecular weight PAHs are more water soluble than higher molecular weight PAHs. Therefore, USEPA-regulated PAH concentrations in pore water samples vary widely due to differing saturation water solubilities that range from 0.2

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Published: 08/01/2007 Number of Pages: 23 File Size: 1 file , 400 KB