The U.S. EPA Method 8330, first introduced in November 1990, is the most common method for the analysis of explosives. Analytes can be detected down to 2.5 ppb in water, soil, or sediment. Used here are the Thermo Scientific Dionex AutoTrace 280 Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) instrument and the Thermo Scientific Dionex SolEx SPE HRPHS cartridge to concentrate the explosive residues, followed by HPLC.
The Thermo Scientific HPLC system is applied for the analysis of 19 explosives. The separation is performed on a Thermo Scientific Hypersil GOLD aQ HPLC column, with UV detection at 245 and 215 nm.