Oils and grease determination by FT-IR and n-hexane as extraction solvent

Recently FT-IR spectroscopy has enjoyed renewed interest for detection and quantification of contamination by oils and grease (OG), especially in water samples. This is due to the development of a new approach using less harmful solvents. This paper presents the development of a new FT-IR method that uses n-hexane as a substitute to Freon 113 in the extraction process. This solvent has a high solubility for the desired organic compounds, low miscibility with water and a low boiling point to facilitate its removal from the extracted material. Results regarding the calibration curves, recovery, precision, detection and quantitation limits are presented. Even if the recovery is not too high (45%), the preconcentration factor of 2 × 103 permits the detection of OG at levels >83 μg/L.