Oil-based source identification experiment

Oil‑Based Source Identification Experiment – Accredited Chemical Fingerprinting and Provenance Determination for Global Markets

Our internationally accredited laboratory provides a specialist oil‑based source identification experiment service that supplies environmental consultancies, petroleum refineries, edible‑oil processors, food‑fraud investigators, lubricant manufacturers and regulatory agencies worldwide with the independent, traceable data they need to determine the origin, the type and the adulteration status of any liquid or semi‑solid oil. Every analysis is conducted under the rigorous framework of ISO/IEC 17025, and each report bearing the ILAC mark is unconditionally accepted by courts of law, customs authorities, notified bodies and supply‑chain partners in all major economies. The oil‑based source identification experiment employs a multi‑technique, multi‑parameter strategy – gas chromatography with flame‑ionisation or mass‑spectrometric detection, stable‑carbon‑isotope ratio analysis, Fourier‑transform infrared spectroscopy, and multi‑element profiling – to create a unique chemical fingerprint that links an unknown oil to its geological source, its refining process, or its botanical and geographical origin. For an emergency‑response team tracing a marine oil spill to a suspect vessel, an olive‑oil importer verifying that a consignment is authentic extra‑virgin, or a waste‑management company classifying an unknown tank residue for the safe disposal, this service delivers the legally robust, defensible identification data that underpin regulatory enforcement, insurance claims and the protection of the consumer and the environment.

Product Samples We Regularly Subject to the Oil‑Based Source Identification Experiment

The sample‑preparation, extraction, chromatographic and isotopic‑analysis suites in our facility accommodate a vast variety of oil matrices and the matrices that contain or are contaminated by them. The following categories represent the most frequently tested items:

Crude oil and condensates – the fresh, the weathered and the emulsified samples from the exploration wells, the production platforms, the pipelines, the tankers and the natural seeps
Refined petroleum products – gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, marine bunker fuel, lubricating oil, hydraulic fluid, transformer oil and waste‑oil residues
Vegetable oils and animal fats – extra‑virgin olive oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, palm oil, coconut oil, fish oil, lard and tallow, evaluated for the adulteration with the cheaper substitutes or the mislabelling of the botanical origin
Essential oils and the oleoresin extracts – the high‑value natural oils from the peppermint, the lavender, the tea‑tree, the eucalyptus and the citrus, tested for the addition of the synthetic aroma chemicals or the dilution with the carrier oils
Used and the waste‑oil samples – the unknown oils recovered from the industrial waste streams, the storage‑tank bottoms, the intercepted cargo and the environmental‑spill sites, where the source identification is the prerequisite for the legal‑liability assignment and the remediation plan
Oil‑contaminated environmental matrices – the seawater, the beach sand, the mangrove sediment, the bird‑feathers and the otter‑fur samples from which the oil must be extracted, cleaned and concentrated before the fingerprinting analysis

Petroleum, Refined Products and Fuel Spills – Oil‑Based Source Identification Experiment According to ASTM D5739, CEN/TR 15522 and the Nordtest Methodology

Determination of the hydrocarbon fingerprint and the source‑specific biomarker ratios by the capillary gas chromatography with the flame‑ionisation detection and the gas chromatography–mass spectrometry according to ASTM D5739 (Standard Practice for Oil Spill Source Identification by Gas Chromatography and Positive Ion Electron Impact Low Resolution Mass Spectrometry) and the CEN/TR 15522 (Oil spill identification – Waterborne petroleum and petroleum products): the oil sample is dissolved in the dichloromethane, and the aliphatic and the aromatic fractions are separated by the solid‑phase extraction or the column chromatography. The normal‑alkane distribution, the pristane‑to‑phytane ratio, the unresolved‑complex‑mixture profile, and the concentrations of the pentacyclic triterpane biomarkers (the hopanes and the steranes) and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are measured. The source‑specific diagnostic ratios of the selected biomarker pairs are calculated and compared with the reference‑oil database using the principal‑component analysis or the Student’s t‑test, and the probability of the match between the spill sample and the suspect source is reported. This oil‑based source identification experiment is the internationally accepted forensic method for the oil‑spill litigation and the cost‑recovery claims, and it is routinely accepted as the expert evidence by the national courts and the international arbitration panels.
Stable‑carbon‑isotope ratio analysis of the whole‑oil and the individual compound classes according to the internal validated protocol and the principles of the US EPA Method 8260C: the bulk oil or the separated saturate and the aromatic fractions are combusted in an elemental‑analyser coupled to an isotope‑ratio mass spectrometer, and the δ¹³C value in the per‑mil relative to the Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite standard is reported. For the highly weathered or the bio‑degraded oils where the chromatographic profile is heavily altered, the isotope signature provides an additional, degradation‑resistant source‑correlation parameter that can distinguish the oils from the different source‑rock formations or the refining processes.
Multi‑element and the trace‑metal profiling by the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry: the oil is acid‑digested or directly introduced, and the concentrations of the vanadium, the nickel, the iron, the copper, the sulfur and the other elements that are characteristic of the source‑rock depositional environment and the refining history are measured, providing the complementary source‑diagnostic data that are incorporated into the multi‑variate statistical model.
Ageing and the weathering simulation for the spill‑source correlation: the suspect‑source oil is artificially weathered by the evaporation, the photo‑oxidation and the biodegradation in the laboratory, and the weathered‑sample fingerprint is compared with the spill‑sample fingerprint, significantly improving the match probability when the spill oil has been exposed to the environment for an extended period.
Identification of the fuel‑type and the post‑refining markers: the presence of the fatty‑acid‑methyl‑ester biodiesel, the dye‑markers, the oxygenate additives and the specific refining‑catalyst residues is detected, enabling the classification of the oil as a virgin petroleum product, a waste‑oil blend or a bio‑fuel, which is essential for the customs‑classification and the excise‑duty enforcement.

Vegetable Oils, Essential Oils and Food‑Fraud Investigation – Oil‑Based Source Identification Experiment According to the Codex Alimentarius, the IOC Standards and the Pharmacopoeial Methods

Determination of the fatty‑acid composition and the triacylglycerol profile by the gas chromatography with the flame‑ionisation detection according to ISO 12966‑2 (Animal and vegetable fats and oils – Gas chromatography of fatty acid methyl esters) and the International Olive Council COI/T.20/Doc. No. 26: the oil is trans‑esterified with the methanolic potassium hydroxide, and the resulting fatty‑acid methyl esters are separated on a high‑polarity capillary column. The percentage of each fatty acid – the oleic, the linoleic, the linolenic, the palmitic and the stearic acids – is reported, and the fatty‑acid profile is compared with the authentic‑oil database and the Codex Alimentarius fatty‑acid ranges for the declared oil type. The presence of the fatty acids that are not characteristic of the declared botanical species – for example, a high linoleic‑acid content in an oil that is labelled as the extra‑virgin olive oil – is the primary indicator of the adulteration with the cheaper seed oils.
Stable‑carbon‑isotope ratio analysis of the bulk oil and the individual fatty acids for the detection of the carbon‑dioxide‑extended or the synthetic adulterants according to the internal validated protocol and the principles of the AOAC Official Method 2004.01: the δ¹³C value of the bulk oil and the specific fatty acids (e.g., the palmitic acid and the linoleic acid) is measured, and the deviation from the isotopic fingerprint that is characteristic of the authentic, the C3‑photosynthetic‑pathway botanical oil is detected, revealing the adulteration with the maize, the cane‑sugar‑derived or the petro‑chemical oils that exhibit a distinct isotopic signature. This oil‑based source identification experiment is the definitive method for the verification of the extra‑virgin olive‑oil authenticity and the detection of the sophisticated adulteration that cannot be identified by the fatty‑acid profiling alone.
Identification and the quantification of the phytosterols, the tocopherols and the phenolic compounds by the high‑performance liquid chromatography with the diode‑array or the mass‑spectrometric detection: the unsaponifiable fraction of the oil is analysed, and the concentrations of the β‑sitosterol, the campesterol, the stigmasterol, the α‑tocopherol and the oleocanthal are reported, providing the multi‑parameter botanical‑authenticity profile that is required by the International Olive Council and the European Union marketing standards for the protected‑designation‑of‑origin olive oils.
Near‑infrared and the Fourier‑transform‑infrared spectroscopy with the chemometric classification: the infrared spectrum of the oil is recorded, and the principal‑component‑analysis and the partial‑least‑squares‑discriminant‑analysis models are used to classify the sample according to the botanical origin, the geographical origin and the adulteration status, providing the rapid, non‑destructive screening that is calibrated against the reference chromatographic and the isotopic data.
Authenticity and the origin verification of the essential oils by the chiral‑gas‑chromatography and the enantiomeric‑ratio analysis: the enantiomeric distribution of the key aroma compounds – such as the limonene, the linalool and the α‑pinene – is determined, and the natural‑origin essential oil is distinguished from the synthetic, the racemic or the nature‑identical adulterant, supporting the pharmacopoeial compliance and the truth‑in‑labelling for the nutraceutical and the cosmetic products.

Report Acceptance and Global Regulatory Compliance

All measurements performed within our oil‑based source identification experiment programme are executed under the fully accredited scope of our ISO/IEC 17025 quality management system. Each test report that carries the ILAC mark is therefore automatically recognised by regulatory authorities, notified bodies, customs offices and supply‑chain partners in all major economies. For environmental‑consultancy firms, petroleum‑refining companies, edible‑oil importers, food‑fraud enforcement agencies and lubricant manufacturers anywhere in the world, the report constitutes legally robust, internationally accepted evidence that the chemical fingerprint, the biomarker‑ratio match, the isotopic signature, the fatty‑acid and the phytosterol profile, and the source‑diagnostic parameters of the oil have been determined in accordance with the applicable ASTM, ISO, IOC, Codex and customer‑specified methods. The documentation can be directly used to support the oil‑spill litigation, the insurance‑claim adjudication, the food‑authenticity certification, the customs‑clearance, the issue of inspection certificates according to EN 10204 or equivalent national standards, and the resolution of commercial and technical disputes concerning the origin, the type and the purity of any oil‑based substance.