Gas chromatographic analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the disposed creosote treated wooden railway sleepers collected from several storage sites in Lithuania

Mantas Stankevičius; Audrius Maruška; Nicola Tiso; Jurgita Mikašauskaitė; Violeta Bartkuvienė; Olga Kornyšova; Rūta Mickienė; Kristina Bimbiraitė-Survilienė; Vilma Kaškonienė; Mykolas Kazlauskas; Donatas Levišauskas; Tomas Tekorius; Chiara Polcaro; Emanuela Galli; Enrica Donati; Massimo Zacchini; Ona Ragažinskienė; Vilija Snieškienė; Antanina Stankevičienė

doi:10.6001/chemija.2015.26.3.9

Mantas Stankevičius
Audrius Maruška
Nicola Tiso
Jurgita Mikašauskaitė
Violeta Bartkuvienė
Olga Kornyšova
Rūta Mickienė
Kristina Bimbiraitė-Survilienė
Vilma Kaškonienė
Mykolas Kazlauskas
Donatas Levišauskas
Tomas Tekorius
Chiara Polcaro
Emanuela Galli
Enrica Donati
Massimo Zacchini
Ona Ragažinskienė
Vilija Snieškienė
Antanina Stankevičienė

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6001/chemija.2015.26.3.9

Keywords: wooden railway sleepers, coal tar, creosote, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, cold solvent extraction

Abstract

This paper was presented in the 9th International Conference “The Vital Nature Sign”, held in Kaunas, 14–16 May 2015.
The screening of PAH in used wooden railway sleepers treated with coal tar and creosote for their protection against biodegradation has been made. The analysis was based on cold solvent extraction and Soxhlet extraction of PAH using several organic solvents and analysis by GC-MS/GC-FID. For extraction several organic solvents of different polarity, including aromatic solvents, were tested. The results showed that aromatic solvents are the most efficient solvents for cold solvent extraction with the highest recoveries of PAH from wood matrix. Several PAH were identified. Naphthalene, acenaphthene, fluorene, anthracene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, crysene and benzo[α]anthracene were predominant. Thirty samples from Central Lithuania and twenty from the costal area were analyzed. Based on the results of chemical analysis the samples were classified using the cluster analysis according to several parameters including age, decay status and chemical composition of the extract of the sleeper. The composition of PAH varies between intact and rotten sleepers. Few sleeper samples differ from others with a strong coal tar odor and a dark color and very high quantities of PAH.