Paraloid contamination assessment for biomarker studies

The aim of this research was to investigate how the presence of acrylic resins such as Paraloid can affect biomarker analyses of geological specimens, specifically on a fossil sample that had been stabilised with Paraloid B-72. This was accomplished through the use of pyrolysis analyses, lipid biomarker extractions, and surface analytical techniques such as SEM and ToF-SIMS. The results showed separation of the Paraloid from aliphatic and aromatic biomarker analytes, but the polar fraction of the bitumen was compromised. The data included here show that Paraloid had minimal impact on lipid biomarker proxies after separation by small-scale liquid chromatography. Also included are the retention times and relative retention factors for a series of highly branched alkanes identified in the fossil bitumen extract (DB-1 gas chromatograph column).