A platform for on-site environmental analysis of explosives using high performance liquid chromatography with UV absorbance and photo-assisted electrochemical detection

High-performance liquid chromatography with photo-assisted electrochemical detection (HPLC–PAED) is used in conjunction with ultraviolet absorbance (UV) detection for determining explosives in environmental samples. The system utilizes an on-line solid-phase extraction technique for sample pretreatment (i.e., fractionation and concentration), thus reducing the required ground water sample size from 1 L to 2 mL and minimizing sample handling. Limits of detection for explosives using solid-phase extraction and PAED range from 0.0007 to 0.4 μg/L, well below those achieved with UV detection for several important explosives (e.g., RDX). The method has demonstrated good accuracy, precision, and recovery for all tested explosives, thus proving that the method is suitable for evaluation of explosives in ground water with competitive advantages over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 8330. A system adaptable for the on-site environmental analysis of explosives has been developed and validated.