Oil Spill Identification System.
Abstract
The U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center has developed a system for forensic identification and classification of oil spills. This system is comprised of procedures for sampling, sample transmittal and four independent analytical techniques: infrared and fluorescence spectroscopy, gas chromatography, and thin-layer chromatography. Each analytical technique has been developed to a high degree of reliability and its effectiveness tested under controlled conditions (simulated spills and weathering). The methods were tested in ten simulated spills involving 63 samples. Probabilities for each method were: Infrared 0.944, Fluorescence 0.911, Gas Chromatography 0.911, Thin-Layer Chromatography 0.629. The combined probability for all techniques was 99.9%. The merits of the identification system have been demonstrated in thirty-eight real world spill cases. In every case, all analytical methods agreed on one source as responsible for the oil spill. In all verificable cases (approx. 25%) the analytical methods identified the true source.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1974
- Accession Number
- ADA003803
Entities
Organizations
- [Means, goals and clinical aims of physioradiological methods of examination.]