ABSTRACT
The development of a field method for the analysis of organic contaminants at sub-part-per-million levels in water has proved to be a valuable tool in the establishment and the sampling of groundwater monitoring wells. The Hanby Field Test Method for aromatics in water comes in the form of a kit complete with necessary reagents and apparatus to perform immediate analyses at the groundwater well site. Prior to the advent of this extraction/colorimetric technique, onsite soil analyses had been almost exclusively vapor or headspace methods. Comparison of the Field Test Kit method versus analyses performed with a purge and trap gas chromatography were made using standard solutions of benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and o-xylene. The alkyl halide extractant plus the aromatic compound present in the water sample are caused to form electrophilic aromatic substitution products by the Lewis acid catalyst which is added in great enough amount to also act as the necessary dehydrant to allow the Friedel-Crafts reaction to proceed.
