Isotopic Abundance Analysis of Biofield Treated Benzene, Toluene and p-Xylene Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)

What is it about?

Benzene, toluene and p-xylene are derivatives of benzene, generally produced from crude petroleum and have numerous applications in industry. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of biofield treatment on isotopic abundance of these benzene derivatives by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Benzene, toluene and p-xylene samples were divided into two parts: control and treatment. Control part was remained as untreated and treatment part was subjected to Mr. Trivedi’s biofield treatment. Control and treated samples were characterized using GC-MS. GC-MS data revealed that isotopic abundance ratio of 13C/12C or 2H/1H (PM+1/PM) of treated samples were significantly increased from un-substituted to substituted benzene rings (where, PM- primary molecule, PM+1- isotopic molecule either for 13C/12C and/or 2H/1H). The isotopic abundance ratio of 13C/12C or 2H/1H (PM+1/PM) in benzene was decreased significantly by 42.14% as compared to control. However, the isotopic abundance ratio of (PM+1/PM) in treated toluene and p-xylene was significantly increased up to 531.61% and 134.34% respectively as compared to their respective control. Thus, overall data suggest that biofield treatment has significantly altered the isotopic abundance ratio of (PM+1/PM) in a different way for un-substituted and substituted benzenes.

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Why is it important?

Benzene, toluene and p-xylene isomers are nonpolar organic liquid, volatile, aromatic and the most important constituents of gasoline (Figure 1). Benzene, toluene and p-xylene are one of the important sources of energy being utilized with petrol/gasoline for vehicle fuel [1]. All three compounds are produced during the process of making gasoline and other fuels from crude oil as well as in making coke from coal. Benzene have been used for long time in manufacturing plastics, detergents, pesticides, and other chemicals such as ethyl benzene, cyclohexane, nitrobenzene, chlorobenzenes and maleic anhydride [2,3]. Toluene has numerous commercial and industrial applications and was used as a solvent in paints, lacquers, thinners, glues, correction fluid, nail polish remover, and in printing and leather tanning processes. p-xylene has been used in adhesives industry, paint industry, and as manufacturing solvent in rubber industries [4]. Molecule wise production, air contamination, World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limit, and percentage use of these compounds in petroleum products are shown in Table 1. Besides their importance, benzene has acute toxicity than the other components, toluene and p-xylene. Because of their low water solubility, acute toxicity and genotoxicity, benzene derivatives were classified as priority pollutants by the US Environmental Protection Agency [5]. The evidence for carcinogenicity of benzene in humans was evaluated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 1982. Benzene, toluene and p-xylene can cause damage to the haematopoietic system, including pancytopenia [6]. While toluene and p-xylene have no direct effect on human, it was believed that cancer risks associated with toluene or p-xylene because of benzene impurities [7]. The prime sources of air and aquifer contamination by these molecules were due to the sequences of accidental gasoline spills, evaporation from petroleum refineries and leakage from service station tanks [8]. Benzene and naphthalene have less frequently degraded chemically than substituted aromatics. These substituted and non-substituted hydrocarbons have degraded by catabolically active bacteria or gasoline-degrading microorganisms for the purposes of in situ aquifer bioremediation, suggesting co-oxidative or syntrophism processes [9,10]. Rate of chemical reaction depends on the mass of the nucleus, and isotopic substitutions slightly affect the partitioning of energy within molecules. These deviations from perfect chemical equivalence are termed isotope effects. Absolute abundances of isotopes are commonly reported in terms of atom percent. For example, 13C, atom percent 13C=[13C/(12C + 13C)]100 Various applications of isotope abundance study includes (a) the distribution of contaminant sources of any molecule on a native, regional, and global scale, (b) the identification and quantification of alteration reactions and (c) the characterization of elementary reaction mechanisms that govern product formation [11]. The stability of benzene derivatives could be enhanced by Mr. Trivedi’s unique biofield treatment which is already known to alter the physical, and structural properties of various living and non-living substances [12]. Scientists have postulated that it is due to the flow of bioelectricity in the human body. When an electrical signal passes through any material, a magnetic field is generated in the surrounding space [13]. Human has the ability to harness energy from environment/universe and can transmit into any object (living or non-living) around the globe. The object(s) always receive the energy and responded into useful way that is called biofield energy. This process is known as biofield treatment. Mr. Trivedi’s unique biofield treatment is also called as The Trivedi Effect®, which known to alter the physical, structural and atomic properties in various metals [14-16] and ceramics [17,18] in material science. Additionally, biofield treatment has been studied in the field of microbiology [19,12], biotechnology [20,21], and agriculture [22-24]. We have reported that biofield treatment has substantial altered the atomic, structural and physical properties in silicon carbides [25] and carbon allotropes [26]. Based on the outstanding results achieved by biofield treatment on metals and ceramics, an attempt was made to evaluate the effect of biofield treatment on isotopic abundance ratio of either 13C/12C or 2H/1H (i.e., PM+1/PM) in treated samples of benzene, toluene and p-xylene as compared to control.

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