Award Date

Fall 1997

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Environmental Science

Advisor 1

Dr. William Brumley, Research Chemist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Number of Pages

44

Abstract

This thesis involves work that was accomplished during a two-year internship at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA), Environmental Chemistry Branch. The research is an application of trace level determination of fluorescein dyes used as groundwater tracers. The work was performed to determine whether groundwater could migrate from a Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) site to an adjacent Superfund site. The research involved using Spectrofluorimetry and a new technique called capillary electrophoresis/laser induced fluorescence (CE/LIF) to determine tracer dyes that were injected at the RCRA site and monitored at the Superfund site. Results from Spectrofluorimetry were compared to those of CE/LIF. CE provides required specificity because it is a high resolution separation technique that depends on ion mobility under free zone electrophoresis. LIF provides a sensitive detection technique for the capillary format of the separation. This study revealed fluorescein and tinopal at low parts per trillion (ppt) levels in the extracts taken from detector pads placed in the monitoring wells.

Keywords

Chattanooga (Tenn.); Fluorescein; Groundwater flow; Groundwater monitoring; Groundwater pollution; Groundwater tracers methodology; Tennessee

Disciplines

Environmental Health and Protection | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Monitoring | Environmental Sciences | Hydrology

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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