Ion chromatography as a tool for the investigation of unsymmetrical hydrazine degradation in soils

Abstract

A new procedure for the determination of 1,1-dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) in soil samples was developed. This involves the distillation of UDMH from an alkaline suspension of soil and ion chromatographic analysis of the distillate. The separation was performed on a silica cation-exchanger column with ammonium acetate buffer solution as mobile phase and amperometric detection at +1.2 V. Hydrazine (Hy) and methylhydrazine (MH), which are decomposition products of UDMH, can be determined simultaneously. The limits of detection in aqueous solutions were 0.2, 0.5 and 1 µg L⁻¹ for Hy, MH and UDMH, respectively. The developed technique was used for investigating the behaviour of UDMH in spills of rocket fuels on soils. It was found that the addition of 4 kg m⁻² UDMH resulted in a 0.02% residue one year after the soil treatment. The vertical migration of UDMH in soil was less than 50 cm.

Keywords:

• Ion chromatography
• Soil analysis
• 1,1-Dimethylhydrazine
• Degradation