Naphtha is the first petroleum product during the distillation process of crude oil or coal tar. It is primarily used as a base material for the production of gasoline or as a solvent. Accidental spills occur regularly at many locations throughout the world, leading to soil contamination.
Investigation of contaminated sites is usually performed using gas chromatography, for which the soil sample has to be frozen, grinded, and subsequently extracted prior to the analysis. Using Visible-Near Infrared Spectroscopy such sample preparation steps are not necessary at all, making this method a viable, fast, and simple to use alternative.