Identification of gasoline contamination of ground-water by gas chromatography.

Individual components that make up different grades of gasoline - or gasolines of the same grade produced by different manufacturers - are resolved and identified by gas chromatography using packed columns and a flame ionization detector. Contaminants at levels as low as 0.5 mu1/1 may be identified by the method if samples of gasoline from the source of contamination can be obtained for comparison. The uniqueness of this method is that it can be applied for routine analysis without the use of sophisticated complements for the gas chromatograph.