Project: RAPID/MRI: Acquisition of a Triple-Quad Mass Spectrometer for Quantitative Identification of Dispersants and Water-Soluble Oil in the Gulf of Mexico

The PI's request MRI RAPID funding to acquire a triple-quad Mass Spectrometer for quantitative identification of dispersants and water-soluble oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Dispersants were applied to the leak at the bottom of the ocean. Preliminary results using the PI's Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT) mass spectrometer show that is possible identify the active ingredient of this dispersant in samples collected during research cruises in the Gulf of Mexico. Components of the dispersant have even been found in samples taken from within the underwater oil plume deep below the ocean's surface (~1100 m). Now the PI's would like to quantify this compound in order to assess its environmental fate in this environment.

In order to quantify these marker compounds, a mass spectrometer designed for sensitive and accurate quantification of targeted compounds is required. The PI's have identified a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer (triple-Q-MS) as the most appropriate instrument for their needs. With the help of the EPA, the PI's now have the appropriate method ready and have been running samples on a triple-Q-MS in a colleague's lab. The increased sensitivity and quantitative accuracy of the triple-Q-MS will allow them to quantify dispersant components and other target compounds at lower concentrations, thus providing important constraints on modeling and predictive efforts underway in other research groups.

Broader Impacts

This research has the potential to provided unprecedented data on the environmental fate of both petroleum and dispersant components as they interact with the extant biological, chemical, and physical processes of the Gulf of Mexico. Beyond the immediate needs of the Gulf oil spill the development of the methods described in the proposal will have broad applications not only in oil spill research but also in marine organic matter characterization and its interactions with biological, chemical and physical processes. The instrument will be available for Gulf oil spill related research in a timeframe consistent with the intent of the RAPID funding mechanism.