Abstract: Methods for analyzing aromatic hydrocarbons dissolved in water are discussed. The methods include providing a substrate coated with a thin film layer of a material, wherein the material has a high affinity for at least one aromatic hydrocarbon, the material is substantially optically transparent, and the material has near-zero auto fluorescence, inserting the coated substrate directly into an environmental location including water, waiting for an exposure time permitting at least one aromatic hydrocarbon to absorb into the thin film layer, retrieving the coated substrate from the environmental location, removing any non-absorbed matter from the coated substrate, and performing fluorescence analysis on the coated substrate to detect aromatic hydrocarbons present in the thin film layer. Also methods for analyzing aromatic hydrocarbons dissolved in water contained in coated vessels are provided.

Abstract: A method for characterizing contaminants within sediment comprising positioning a sampler in a continuous manner within the sediment, exposing the sampler to the sediment for a dwell time, retrieving the sampler, and analyzing the sampler. The sampler is exposed to the sediment for a sufficient period of time to allow at least one analyte of interest to permeate the sampler. The sampler may be analyzed using fluorescence and/or gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to determine contamination versus sampler length. The contamination versus sampler length may be converted to contamination versus depth or contamination versus horizontal position.

Abstract: A method for characterizing contaminants within sediment comprising positioning a sampler in a continuous manner within the sediment, exposing the sampler to the sediment for a dwell time, retrieving the sampler, and analyzing the sampler. The sampler is exposed to the sediment for a sufficient period of time to allow at least one analyte of interest to permeate the sampler. The sampler may be analyzed using fluorescence and/or gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to determine contamination versus sampler length. The contamination versus sampler length may be converted to contamination versus depth or contamination versus horizontal position.