Using stable isotope analysis to discriminate gasoline on the basis of its origin

Su-Young Heo; Woo-Jin Shin; Sin-Woo Lee; Yeon-Sik Bong; Kwang-Sik Lee

doi:10.1002/rcm.6130

Using stable isotope analysis to discriminate gasoline on the basis of its origin

Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2012 Mar 15;26(5):517-22. doi: 10.1002/rcm.6130.

Authors

Su-Young Heo¹, Woo-Jin Shin, Sin-Woo Lee, Yeon-Sik Bong, Kwang-Sik Lee

Affiliation

¹ Graduate School of Analytical Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 305-764, Korea.

PMID: 22302491
DOI: 10.1002/rcm.6130

Abstract

Rationale: Leakage of gasoline and diesel from underground tanks has led to a severe environmental problem in many countries. Tracing the production origin of gasoline and diesel is required to enable the development of dispute resolution and appropriate remediation strategies for the oil-contaminated sites.

Methods: We investigated the bulk and compound-specific isotopic compositions of gasoline produced by four oil companies in South Korea: S-Oil, SK, GS and Hyundai. The relative abundance of several compounds in gasoline was determined by the peak height of the major ion (m/z 44).

Results: The δ(13)C(Bulk) and δD(Bulk) values of gasoline produced by S-Oil were significantly different from those of SK, GS and Hyundai. In particular, the compound-specific isotopic value (δ(13)C(CSIA)) of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in S-Oil gasoline was significantly lower than that of gasoline produced by other oil companies. The abundance of several compounds in gasoline, such as n-pentane, MTBE, n-hexane, toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene, differed widely among gasoline from different oil companies.

Conclusions: This study shows that gasoline can be forensically discriminated according to the oil company responsible for its manufacture using stable isotope analysis combined with multivariate statistical analysis.