Using stable isotope analysis to discriminate gasoline on the basis of its origin.
BACKGROUND
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.
Graduate School of Analytical Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 305-764, Korea.
Su-Young
SY
Heo
Woo-Jin
WJ
Shin
Sin-Woo
SW
Lee
Yeon-Sik
YS
Bong
Kwang-Sik
KS
Lee