A proposed method for rapid and economical extraction of petroleum hydrocarbons from contaminated soils

Abstract

Petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) are common soil contaminants. A number of methods have been used to extract PHCs from soil prior to quantification by gas chromatography (GC). These methods often require long extraction times and expensive, specialized equipment. A shaking method was assessed for simple, rapid removal of PHCs from contaminated soils. Shaking spiked and aged contaminated soils for 4 h with acetone:hexane (1:1) at a soiksolvent ratio of 1:30 (g:mL) recovered 74 to 108% of PHC, compared with a Soxhlet extraction, yielding a good correlation (4 h = -93.7 + 0.99 Soxhlet; r = 0.99, P < 0.001). Preliminary results show that this proposed procedure has potential for the quick, inexpensive extraction of PHCs from contaminated soils.