δ13C and δD of volatile organic compounds in an alumina industry stack emission

Compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) is becoming more widely accepted as a tool for determining the sources of contaminants and monitoring their transport and fate in the environment. However, measuring delta D of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in atmospheric samples is still underexplored. The present study applies thermal desorption-gas chromatography isotope ratio mass spectrometry (TD-GC-irMS) for the first time to measure stable hydrogen isotope analyses of VOCs in an alumina refinery emission. delta C-13 data is also collected. A sampling train was designed using TenaxTA as the adsorbent material to gain reliable and reproducible results for CSIA. delta C-13 values for VOCs (C-6-C-14) ranged from -22 to -31%, which is similar to delta C-13 value range reported for naturally occurring components. The 80 values (21 to -137 parts per thousand) in this study were consistently more enriched in D compared to delta D values of VOCs previously reported making the delta values of VOCs in the industrial stack unique. Therefore delta D analysis may provide a means for tracking VOCs in atmospheric samples. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.