| Abstract
| - A direct aqueous injection-gas chromatography/massspectrometry (DAI-GC/MS) method for trace analysis ofgasoline components in water is presented. The methodallows for the simultaneous quantification of the followingsolutes: methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), its majordegradation products (tert-butyl formate, tert-butyl alcohol(TBA), methyl acetate, and acetone), and possiblesubstitutes of MTBE as an octane enhancer in gasoline (tert-amyl methyl ether, ethyl tert-butyl ether) as well asbenzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, p-xylene, m-xylene, ando-xylene (BTEX). No enrichment or pretreatment steps arerequired, and sample volumes of only 50 μL are neededfor analysis. The detection limits in two different matrixes(spiked lake water and contaminated groundwater) are≤2 μg/L for most analytes and <0.2 μg/L for MTBE, benzene,and toluene. The accuracy of the DAI-GC/MS methodwas excellent as determined from comparison withheadspace-GC/MS and purge-and-trap-GC/MS. The DAI-GC/MS method has been applied to various environmentalstudies, which demonstrated its versatility. The applicationscomprised both laboratory (MTBE degradation in watertreatment, quantification of polar gasoline components) andfield (MTBE degradation at a gasoline spill site) investigations.
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