Identification and Quantification of Organic Solvents in Flammable Hazardous Wastes by GC/FT-IR

Abstract

A wide variety of organic solvents within flammable hazardous wastes were determined by GC/FT-IR using external calibration. The hazardous waste samples were prepared for analysis by dilution with hexane. The type of compounds analyzed included acetate esters, alcohols, aromatics, ethylene glycol ethers, chlorinated hydrocarbons, ketones, and other industrial solvents. The instrumental detection limits for the various compounds ranged from 4 to 240 μg/mL. Calibration curves were linear over one to two orders of magnitude and stable for several months. The percent relative standard deviation ranged from 0.9 to 10.0% and the percent bias was within ±23% for all analytes.