Thermal Analysis as a First Screening Method to Evaluate Potential Contamination

Abstract

Thermogravimetry (TG) was used to investigate the pollution on marine sediments close to urban and industrial sites. Sediment weight loss when heated (TG) was performed under oxidizing conditions from 250°C to 900°C. The first derivative of TG curves was used to generate a Cartesian diagram for sediments cataloging, in a quick way, according to their organic matter and grain size contents. Thus, sediment placed at the right of the diagram were characterized by a prevalence of the thin fraction and high organic matter content, while on the left side, samples were characterized by large sandy fractions, and, in general, low organic matter contents. Two references materials and metal pollution index were used to validate the Cartesian diagram obtained.

Lacustrine Archives of Metals from Mining and Other Industrial Activities—A Geochemical Approach

“…Thermogravimetry Analysis (TGA) Thermal analysis, in which solid sediment samples are heated at a controlled rate (5-20 °C/min) across a specified temperature range (usually 30-950 °C) under an oxygen or nitrogen atmosphere, has been demonstrated to contain signals of heavy metal pollution in marine sediments (Rodrí-guez-Barroso et al 2008;Rodríguez-Barroso et al 2010). Provided geochemical data obtained using a secondary technique is available for correlation purposes, applying their procedures to lake sediments offers an automated and low-cost methodology.…”

Novel use of TGA–FTIR technique to predict the pollution degree in marine sediments

“…The rate of the weight loss undergone by the sample is the basis of differential thermogravimetry (DTG). This technique has been used to assess compost stability and maturity [3,4], in the study of soil organic matter [5][6][7] and characterization of marine sediments [8][9][10][11][12].…”