TITLE:
The History of Hydrocarbon Analyses: Whence Has Forensic Geochemical Hydrocarbon Fingerprinting Come
AUTHORS:
Michael J. Wade, Dennis Stainken
KEYWORDS:
Hydrocarbon Fingerprinting, Forensic Geochemistry, Gas Chromatography
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.7 No.3,
February
26,
2016
ABSTRACT: The
current techniques used in forensic geochemical hydrocarbon fingerprinting have
their genesis along with the evolution of gas chromatography as it applies to
hydrocarbon research. In the United States, a small group of government and
academic chemists and marine scientists pioneered the use of gas chromatography
in the identification of both natural and petroleum-derived hydrocarbons.
Natural products were a primary focus until the research direction was altered
somewhat by marine oil spills, accidents releasing crude oil and refined
petroleum products to the world’s coastal marine environment, giving rise to
concerns regarding biogeochemical impacts. Application of oil spill research
continued from that point so that the geochemical research begun in the late
1960s and early 1970s now forms a major component of investigations of
petroleum releases both in the aquatic and terrestrial environments. As the
capabilities for the identification of individual hydrocarbons in a variety of
petroleum products improved with basic advances in chromatographic technology,
new applied sciences in forensic geochemical hydrocarbon fingerprinting have
emerged. While in the beginning the identification of bulk petroleum products
received primary emphasis, current techniques are now capable of distinguishing
among a variety of potential sources including those derived from natural
processes, undetected individual releases, chronic releases and obvious
catastrophic releases. However, a review of the techniques employed in the late
1960s and early 1970s will show that the basic approaches pioneered at that
time are still in use today, albeit with a higher level, with concomitant
advances in chromatographic technology as the questions grow in complexity.