A comparative analysis of analytical techniques for rapid oil spill identification

The complex chemical composition of crude oils presents many challenges for rapid chemical characterization in the case of a spill. A number of approaches are currently used to “fingerprint” petroleum‐derived samples. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) is the most common, albeit not very rapid, technique; however, with GC‐MS alone, it is difficult to resolve the complex substances in crude oils. This study examined the potential application of ion mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry (IMS‐MS), coupled with chem‐informatic analyses, as an alternative high‐throughput method for the chemical characterization of crude oils. We analyzed 19 crude oil samples from on‐ and off‐shore locations in the Gulf of Mexico region in the United States using both GC‐MS (biomarkers, gasoline range hydrocarbons, and n‐alkanes) and IMS‐MS (untargeted analysis). Hierarchical clustering, principal component analysis, and nearest‐neighbor‐based classification were used to examine sampl...