Identification of Petroleum Products in Environmental Samples Using Gas Chromatography and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Typical analytical features of petroleum products in environmental samples were considered. Among them are typical shapes of chromatograms; peaks of n-alkanes; the ratio between n-alkanes with even and odd numbers of carbon atoms; peaks of biomarkers (isoprenanes, steranes, triterpanes, etc.); the predominance of methyl- and alkyl-substituted mono-, bi-, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons over unsubstituted aromatic hydrocarbons; and other features. These features altogether enable reliable conclusions about the petroleum origin of the identified pollutants to be made.