The main objective of this study is to assess the compatibility between Korean ministry of environment (KME) standard and ISO (KS I ISO) standard for the determination of BTEX and TPH content in soil. We carried out comparison analysis for both methods using CRM and matrix spiked samples. In case of GC-MS analysis for BTEX, we got statistically (significance level: 0.05) the same results from KME standard (ES 07600.1) and ISO standard (KS I ISO 15009). However, it showed statistically (significance level: 0.05) different results when TPH was analyzed by KME standard (ES 07552.1) and ISO standard (KS I ISO 16703). To clarify the reason why both methods produced different results for TPH content, we also did some additional experiments in terms of differences in extraction, clean-up and target hydrocarbon range. Extraction with polar and non-polar compounds mixed solvent (acetone+n-heptane) of KS I ISO 16703 showed higher extraction efficiency than with only non polar solvent (dichloromethane) extraction of ES 07552.1 by about 9%. While column type clean-up of KS I ISO 16703 showed the reduction in TPH content between before and after clean-up, batch type of clean-up of ES 07552.1 did not show any changes in TPH content through clean-up process. The target hydrocarbon range of ES 07552.1 and KS I ISO 16703 is $C_8{\sim}C_{40}$ and $C_{10}{\sim}C_{40}$, respectively. From this point of view, kerosene and JP-8 contaminated soil showed higher RPD (relative producibility deviation) values between results by both method than that of lubricant or diesel contaminated soil. The higher content of hydrocarbon ($C_8{\sim}C_{10}$) in kerosene and JP-8 played an important role in increasing RPD values in addition to the effects caused by different solvents and clean-up method. Consequently, it was concluded that both methods (ES 07552.1 and KS I ISO 16703) were not compatible.

Keywords: BTEX;TPH;Analytical method;Compatibility;ISO Standard;