DETERMINATION OF ORGANIC-ACIDS AND KETONES IN CONTAMINATED SOILS

Hydrocarbons and metabolites from biodegradation in soil have been isolated and separated using Soxhlet extraction, with n-heptane and dichloromethane, combined with solid-phase extraction on silica gel and basic aluminum oxide using n-pentane, dichloromethane, methanol, and sulfuric acid - methanol as eluents. This procedure can be used for determination of metabolites both in laboratory-prepared soil samples containing mineral oils and in actual contaminated soil. After microbiological degradation, organic acids and ketones which were not original components of the diesel fuel and lubricating oil contaminating the soil samples were identified using capillary gas chromatography - mass spectrometry in batch-soil experiments. Predominantly alicyclic and branched-chain aliphatic organic acids and diacids, and aromatic ketones, were found to be formed after a few weeks degradation.